Silver Night
by draco'n'blaiselovers
Summary: 'If love is insane, then why is insanity so beautiful' There are new secrets in Hogwarts. Two elemental cousins have a fight ahead of them. Can they have feelings for two Slytherin's and still be best friends with three Gryffindor's who despise them?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay, This is a story me and my best friend are writing together. This first chapter is just back-story, and the main characters will be in the second chapter a lot more than this one. As the story goes on, we'll be making drawings, and taking pictures of things from the story, because that's how cool we are. This is where we'll be posting them: .com/**

**Thank you to our awesome beta reader (CrazyNutSquirrel): .net/u/1646734/**

**If you guys like it, please let us know.**

**Disclaimer: The only things we own are Alice Silver, Rowan Night, Derek and Darren Riemer, Arianna Silver, Rowan Night, and the events surrounding them. Nothing else!**

**~Bar Night~**

"Look at those two," Marisa Night said in a stage whisper, directing her best friend's gaze to the two identical twins at the other end of the bar.  
>"I wish they'd buy us a drink. It's been a tough couple of weeks," Alice Silver remarked, grimacing as she twisted a charm bracelet on her right wrist.<br>The best friends had only been in town three weeks, starting up a muggleborn refugee camp in northern Canada. Marisa had managed to maintain a positive outlook on the power struggle of wizards in Europe, but sometimes the auror badges hidden under both their coats seemed to get heavier for Alice.  
>The wizarding war had taken a toll on everyone. Alice and Marisa, even though they were purebloods, felt they owed muggleborns help and protection because of what other purebloods did to them; that is why they were in Canada. One month ago, the Order of the Phoenix, which the friends were heavily involved in, had convinced them to start a muggleborn refugee camp in 'the great white north.'<br>It hadn't been easy, and there were still problems to iron out, but the best friends had found a way to get some off time from the hectic mess that was hundreds of muggleborns fleeing Voldemort's reign of terror. They had gone bar hopping.  
>It was nice. They didn't have to worry about defensive spells, getting food for everyone, healing the injured, and other time-consuming tasks that drained mountains of energy.<br>"Well, you might get your wish, they're looking interested," Miranda giggled as both the twins raised their brown eyes to meet the witches' gazes. Marisa winked at the pair, and Alice smiled brightly at the muggles.  
>The bar was fairly empty that night, and there was no mistaking that the enticing twins were looking at the flirting women. At the very same moment, the twins stood from the bar stools and made their way over.<br>As the men got closer they were met with a "hey" from the twin with shoulder length hair. "I'm Darren, and this is my brother Derek." Aside from the hair, Darren with shoulder length locks, and Derek with a buzz cut, the twins were perfectly identical.  
>"Hey. My name is Marisa and this is my best friend Alice," she said flirtatiously as she twirled her hair between her forefinger and thumb.<br>"It's nice to meet you," Alice said with a smile and an outstretched hand to Derek. He took her hand and met her smile with one of his own.  
>"You two aren't from around here, are you?" Derek asked, noting their British accents with a raised brow and a flash of pearly white teeth.<br>"Well, we're from here now, but we lived in London before. We just moved a couple weeks ago," Marisa said in a nonchalant voice.  
>"That's interesting. Why did you move out here?" Darren asked with a grin.<br>"Work," the two girls chorused together.  
>Derek raised an eyebrow and his eyes slowly skimmed the two girls, lingering on Alice. "Really, what do you two do?"<br>Alice's eyes shot wide as she thought of something to say, and attempted to look unaffected by the question. Marisa, with her sharp mind, was fortunately able to save the day. "We work at a refugee camp, for people who are forced to leave their countries," she said coolly with an air of certainty around her that kept the boys from reading too much into Alice's slip up. '_Might as well stick close to the truth so it's more believable,_' she thought with a smirk. Technically, she wasn't lying.  
>Darren smiled warmly at her. "That such a giving job, you must get tired," he said, a flicker of something the girls couldn't quite place in his eyes.<br>"Yeah, I guess it's a tad tiresome. We work quite a lot, this is actually the first time in three weeks, we've had some free time," Marisa said with a flip of her hair, followed by Alice elbowing her in the ribcage. Alice didn't want to get involved romantically with anyone, let alone muggles, who were so easily affected by magic.  
>The two then stopped their silent display of secrecy and looked out on the two young men realizing they were still watching.<br>Marisa looked at the two twins but couldn't help the draw she had to Darren, and from what she could see of Alice and Derek, they were feeling the same about each other.  
>"Well in that case, can we get you hard-working ladies a drink?" asked Darren with a wink to Marisa. Alice smiled flirtatiously, trying to play off their earlier display. She was also somewhat excited by the prospect of letting out some stress. "Yeah, I could use a shoot of tequila," Marisa said simply, and so the story began.<p>

~LATER THAT NIGHT~

"You're a great dancer!" Alice slurred as she attempted to dance and not spill her drink at the same time. She and Derek were dancing to a hip hop song with lots of bass and more swear words than anyone cared to count.  
>Derek put out a hand on her elbow to steady her as she almost lost her footing again.<br>He laughed at Alice's drunken dance moves, stealthily stealing her drink as he sidled closer to her and whispered in her ear. "I think you've had enough for tonight."  
>That made Alice pout as she glanced across the room to where Marisa was dancing on top of a table with Darren. Derek grabbed Alice's hand and pulled her across the room to his brother and Marisa, extracting their drinks as well, before pulling them all out of the bar to walk off the booze.<br>They walked slowly due to the fact that three of the four of them were too intoxicated to walk in a straight line, let alone at a normal pace. They walked long into the night, and slowly the alcohol left their bodies and was replaced by the warm comfort of being in each other's company.  
>It was just before sunrise that they were all completely sober again, and besides a bit of sleep deprivation they were all just glad to have each other's company. The four companions were well aware of all the others faults, and knew what the others personalities were like. It was one of those nights where you don't just leave and forget it ever happened; and for the witches, forgetting would be the definition of impossible.<br>They were sitting in a random field on the outskirts of town, Marisa leaning on Daren's chest, Derek cradling Alice's head in his lap as they watched the sun rise.  
>As the final edge of the sun broke the horizon, Alice sat bolt upright at the sudden realization that they were at least six hours late to be back at the refugee camp.<br>"Marisa? We gotta go!" she said as she scrambled up from the grassy field.  
>Her best friend sighed, peeling herself off Darren's chest.<br>"Do we HAVE to go?" she complained from the ground.  
>"Can we give you two a ride?" Derek wanted to know, looking disappointed at the women's sudden departure.<br>"Yes, Marisa, we need to go," Alice said to her best friend, dusting grass off her butt and the back of her legs as she turned to Derek. "No, it's not far, we can walk," she lied smoothly. The pair would apparate when the twins were out of sight.  
>She grabbed Marisa's hand and pulled her prone form from the ground, deflecting groans of complaint at being moved from her comfy position on Darren's chest.<br>"Can we see you again?" Darren asked with a look of disappointment plastered across his face.  
>"Of course you can," Marisa blurted, brightening instantly, but earning a glare from Alice and a discreet mouthing of the word no.<br>"Great, want to meet here again at seven thirty on Tuesday? We could for dinner and maybe a movie? Or we could just go for a walk again. It doesn't really matter to us, as long as we get to see you two again."  
>Marisa jumped forward and gave him a tight hug.<p>

"We'll be here," she said with a smile.  
>"Anyways, we should go. But thank you for the lovely evening Derek, Darren, I hope we meet again," Alice told the boys as she began dragging Marisa away from Darren. Before Alice could extract her friend, however, she was grabbed from behind and enveloped in a tight hug from Derek. Both the men seized that moment and bent over to give the women kisses on the cheeks. Probably due to twin telepathy.<br>"I can't wait to see you again Alice," Derek purred in her ear. "You are definitely far too exciting to let slip away." Alice felt like melting in his grip, felt like becoming putty in his hands. But dedication and commitment kept her from pulling him to the ground and snuggling up to him again.  
>"Bye!" both the women said at the same time, snagging their purses and walking south, the opposite way of the pub, while the twins walked back towards their car in front of the bar.<br>Once the two men had turned the corner around the path they had taken to get there, Alice grabbed Marisa's arm and spun her to face her; Alice's ice blue eyes seemingly on fire.  
>"What were you thinking?" She hissed at her friend. "We can't afford to get romantically involved with anyone, let alone a couple of muggles!" Alice exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air in frustration.<br>"You seemed to be enjoying yourself." smirked Marisa, continuing to walk south through the field. Alice jogged to catch up.  
>"That's not the point! You agreed to meet them again! What were you thinking?"<br>"I was thinking that maybe we could find something else to live for other than the vague hope You Know Who is just going to drop dead?"  
>Alice ran a worried hand through her short blond hair. "Fine," she said after a few minutes of silent walking. "Fine. Let's just apparate back to the refuge. Just don't blame me if I choke on a lie." Alice was one of the most truthful people Marisa knew. Alice was extremely terrible at lying.<p>

Marisa smirked, knowing that she didn't have the same affliction as her friend.

"We'll make it work."

~SIX YEARS LATER~

"This is never going to work!" screeched Alice as she attempted to correct her muggle makeup. She looked over to her just as distressed best friend and continued her rant. "We can't get married, without telling them we're witches!"  
>True to her word, Marisa had made it work, and the girls had gone on many dates with the twins. It had been six years since that fateful night at the bar, and, as you can see, the two couples had became closer than ever; when finally, the twins had each got down on one knee, and proposed to their respective girlfriends.<br>Now, just three months later, they were getting married. Lily Potter, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and Nymphadora Tonks, who was a family friend of the Nights, had flown in from England, where the battle to defeat Voldemort was still raging.  
>The girls' fathers weren't able to make it, because of previous commitments in the war, but they had sent an owl, wishing them the best, with ginormous apologies. Both of girls' mothers had been killed in the third year of the war, one year after the girls had moved to Canada.<br>Marisa sighed sadly. "I know," she said quietly. "We have lived this lie long enough." Marisa rose to her feet and began walking towards the oak door that was supposed to lead her to her dashing groom and dream wedding, but for her it seemed the door could only lead to her fiancée's departure. She and Alice doubted the two boys would take kindly to the revelation that the girls were witches. None the less Marisa walked steadily to the foreboding door. "It needs to end now," she murmured in a sad tone.  
>Just then the door burst open and two vary disheveled men crashed through. Both Derek and Darren had frown lines diminishing their handsome countenances.<br>"We have something to tell you," Derek said just as Marisa was about to spill the two girls' best kept secret. She stopped dead in her tracks and gave her full attention to her best friend's fiancée.  
>"What is it?" asked Alice, a concerned look adorning her porcelain features, turning around from where she was sitting on the makeup stool. Derek began in a frantic tone. "Well you see... Umm... Well there's this... Uhh thing, I guess..."<br>"Just spit it out man. It has to be said," Darren reassured, however Derek seemed unable to find his words at that particular moment so Darren found the words instead. "You see the truth is we aren't human. We are really elementals." He paused there and looked at the two girls who's jaws were unhitched and hanging on the floor.  
>"Huh," was the only thing Alice could think to say.<br>"Yeah," Derek said nervously. "I can control Earth and Darren can control Water."  
>There was an unnatural silence for about twenty seconds after that when Alice's giggles began to fill the room, followed by a second laugh from Marisa. Derek's frown only increased with what he perceived as a strange reaction.<br>"Why are you laughing? We really are telling the truth! It's not funny..."  
>The girls tried half heartedly to suppress their giggles.<br>"You're wrong, it's funny," Alice gasped between bits of laughter.  
>"Just not for the reasons you think," Marisa finished attempting to rein in her laughter as well.<br>Both twins eyebrows were knitted together in confusion. "What are you talking about?" asked Darren in a miffed voice, a bit peeved because he thought the girls were making fun of them.  
>"It's just that we were literally on our way to deliver a secret quite similar to yours." Marisa sated, smiling as she took Darren's hand, and absentmindedly drew circles on the back of his hand with her thumb.<br>"You see there is something you should know about us before we get married," Alice rambled receiving a stomp on the foot from Marissa.  
>Alice started with an unsure look on her face. "The truth is," she paused to look at Marissa.<br>"We're witches." they sang out with a conviction that stunned even them.  
>It was Derek and Darren's turn to have their jaws drop to the floor.<br>"You mean we're both magi-." Derek was cut off by the girls' quick chorus of 'yep'.  
>There was a comfortable silence after that. The two couples just stood staring at each other soaking in what they had just learned when Marissa blurted out.<br>"Can we see you guys do something?"  
>The two boys winked at the girls and began waving their hands in front of themselves in an almost dance like pattern.<br>Then, rising from a vase, a sphere of water rose and floated away from the flowers and came to a standstill inches from Marissa's face.  
>At the same moment, all the dust in the room gathered into a similar sphere and drifted until it was in front of Alice's face.<p>

"That's one way to dust a room," She muttered, a smile growing on her face.  
>At the exact same time, the two spheres began to convert into a shape - the shape of a heart.<br>"Awww, that's so sweet!" said Sirius Black from his position leaning against the doorframe. "I hate to ruin this moment, but I have orders from the maid of honour to kick the grooms out." He smirked.  
>Derek and Darren gave their respective wives-to-be giant hugs and kisses on the forehead, and left the backroom with Sirius. Hurricane Lily swept in, her arms full of gowns, veils, and makeup.<br>"FINALLY those two left. I've got your dresses." She laid out the two dresses, one a poofy ball gown with a silver sash around the waist for Marissa, the other a strapless flowy affair with a fiery red belt for Alice. "And your veils," Lily laid two basic white veils on the dresses that would flow behind their heads. "And wizard make up!"  
>Alice wrapped her friend in a huge hug. "Thank you so much! I was sick of messing around with this crap," she said, going back to the mirror and taking off the muggle eyeliner and eye shadow, Marissa doing likewise, shooting a thankful look towards Lily.<br>"You don't even know how much I love you right now!" Marissa blurted out snatching the magic eyeliner off the vanity. "You know that eyeliner is my baby!" She then quickly proceeded to put the enchanted black liner on her eyes.  
>The two girls spent the remainder of the hour doing their make-up and getting into their dresses. During that time Nymphadora Tonks, daughter of Bill Tonks (Marissa's father's best friend) joined the procession and began helping the girls arrange their hair.<br>Alice had her hair swirled up on the top of her head in a loose curly bun. Marissa had done her hair in soft ringlets that fell down past the nape of her neck and rested in the small of her back.  
>Both girls had lace veils trailing over their heads and down their backs all the way to the ends of their dresses.<br>"I think that just about does it!" Lily said as she fastened a clip with a blue butterfly into Marissa hair.  
>"You guys look absolutely drop dead gorgeous! I can't wait till I get married" squealed the barely out of Hogwarts Nymphadora, who went by Tonks. She smiled and her purple hair became a bubblegum pink.<br>"Someday." Marissa said with a smile. Lily was running around the room, looking for the white envelope the two brides' fathers had given her.  
>"Aha!" she hollered as she found it, knocked to the floor when they had grabbed the dresses from the bench. Lily opened the envelope and grabbed two objects, keeping them closed in her hand so the curious girls couldn't see them. "You fathers gave me something to give to each of you." She opened her hand, revealing a pale pink rose charm for Alice's bracelet, and a star-shaped opal necklace for Marissa. "These were your mothers'."<br>The brides slowly took each of their gifts softly, inspecting them closer. Tonks put the rose on Alice's bracelet, and Lily fastened the star around Marissa's throat.  
>With that done, the brides put on their heels, and Lily, with final well wishes, ran out with Tonks to take their places in the procession.<br>"Deep breathes, Alice!" Marissa reminded her friend, about to hyperventilate herself. Sirius met them at the back of the small procession, Lily and Jessica (the twins thirty one year-old sister), the brides maids, Tonks and Abigail (Jessica's six year-old daughter), flower girls. Up in the front with the grooms were Remus, Ned (the twins best friend), and Samuel (the twins' cousin). James and Peter Pettigrew were sitting in the front row.  
>The best friends took a deep breath, and glanced at each other.<br>"You ready?" asked Alice, a terrified look in her eyes.  
>"No," said Marissa, still trying to steady her breath.<br>"Let's do it," said Alice.  
>Sirius, their appointed walk-down-the-isle-person, stepped in between them, took them by the elbows, and led them up the isle to their future.<br>"How lucky am I to have not one, but two of the hottest girls in my year hanging off my arm at the same time?" Sirius quipped quietly. Both the brides stomped on his feet with their stilettos.  
>At that moment the church bells rang and a chorus of voices rose from the church hall.<br>"Guess it's time." Marissa said, her knees shaking with nerves.  
>"Yeah. Guess so." Alice agreed, and Sirius led them down the aisle.<br>All it took was one look at their soon-to-be husbands, and they knew they were doing the right thing.

~TWO YEARS, FOUR MONTHS, AND SIXTEEN DAYS LATER~  
>(1980, October 21st, 12:33pm)<p>

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOUR WATER BROKE?" screeched Marissa as she approached her friend in the supermarket. She was doubled over hugging her enlarged abdomen in pain. "YOUR WATER CAN'T BREAK YET! IT'S TOO EARLY!" She yelled, pulling out her cell to call Derek and Darren, simultaneously shouting for help from the people in the store.  
>They got to Marissa's car, and the store manager was helping Marissa help Alice into the car, when Marissa's water broke.<br>"Oh crap."  
>The store manager, having buckled Alice up, glanced towards Marissa, who was now doubled over in pain.<br>"This is the most intense day at work I've ever had," she sighed, helping Marissa into the backseat and taking the keys. "I'm going to tell them where I'm going, and then I'm driving you two to the hospital." The manager, whose name tag said Molly, ran back through the double doors and out of sight.  
>"Looks like this isn't going to be an ordinary day after all." Alice panted.<p>

"Ya think?" growled Marissa from the back seat.

~LATER~

The two mothers-to-be had managed to get the same room in the maternity wing of the nearby hospital. "Where on earth are they?" gasped Alice, whose contractions had begun to get closer together. "They should be here by now!"  
>"Calm down Alice! They're on their way! Just give them some bloody time!" Marissa hissed through her pain.<br>When the girls had gotten to the hospital, they were giving quick examinations, and it was determined that Alice was most likely to have her baby first, due to the fact that her contractions had began to get more frequent. Marissa's contractions were still pretty far apart but they we're slowly becoming worse.  
>Just then the frantic sound of yelling met the girls' ears.<br>"YOU HAVE TO LET US THROUGH! THEY'RE OUR WIVES!" The obvious voice of Derek screamed. The voice of a nurse could barely be heard as more than a whisper. Then the yelling started up again.

"YES THEY ARE BOTH OUR WIVES!" hollered an upset Darren. There was more murmuring, and then

"YOU BETTER LET US THROUGH THE FRICKIN DOOR, BECAUSE NOBODY IS GOING TO KEEP US AWAY FROM WITNESSING OUR FIRST CHILD'S BIRTH!" They both screamed (twin telepathy again).  
>Finally, the door was flung open and the flustered forms of Derek and Darren almost ran over, the nurse holding the door ajar.<br>"ARE WE TOO LATE? DID WE MISS IT?" yelled the obviously distressed Darren.  
>"Whoa buddy, calm your shit!" consoled Marissa who was trying to giggle through her pain.<br>"The buggers are still hanging around up there. They are not quite ready to give up my awesome womb," wheezed Alice.  
>Just then the delivery doctor came through the open door. "Let's take a look at you Mrs. Riemer." said the doctor putting down his clip board and going to check Alice's vitals.<br>"Umm, it's Silver, Alice Silver. I never took Derek's last name. And Marissa never took Darren's." She clarified as the doctor turned to Marissa. The doctor walked over to his clip board and began to jot down some notes.  
>"Oh, sorry. I didn't know. So I see you two are sister in laws." He said receiving a nod from both girls.<br>"And best friends." Marissa stated just so the man had a bit of the back story.  
>"So is it just a coincidence that the two of you are having kids at the same time, or did you plan it like this?" he asked with a curious look. He didn't sound like he was being rude, but the couples were not quite sure whether they liked his forwardness.<br>"It's a coincidence really; actually our baby is due this week. Its Alice and Derek's baby that's not due for another two weeks." Darren stepped in seeing that both the girls seemed too peeved and in too much pain to answer the doctor.  
>He and Derek then crossed the room to the separate beds. Derek grabbed Alice's hand and began brushing her sweat-drenched hair off her face.<br>"It's too early." She gasped, not noticing him wince at how tight she was holding his hand.  
>"It'll be okay, hon." He said.<br>Darren had grabbed a chair and was consoling his wife.  
>"I'm not worried about mine! I'm worried about Alice's! ALICE? Are you okay? You look like you're gonna pass out!" she paused but before Alice could answer Marissa let out a yelp. "Ouch, that one hurt." She winced again as another, less painful contraction hit.<br>"I'm fine, Marissa. Everything will be fine. I'm sure that the doctors are more than capable of dealing with premature babies," Alice said through gritted teeth, reassuring herself more than Marissa.  
>"All right Mrs. Silver, it's just about time." The doctor said as a nurse came in and began wheeling Alice's bed out of the room. "You can come as well, Mr. Riemer." And with that the doctor left the room and everyone else behind as he headed to the room where the final moments before Alice became a mother would be.<br>"Good luck!" Marissa yelled at her best friend and sister-in-law.  
>"You too!" Alice replied before focusing her attention on not screaming in pain.<br>"Do you think she'll be okay?" Marissa asked Darren, feeling calmer as he took her hand. Darren kissed Marissa's hand, focusing all his energy on keeping her calm.  
>"She'll be fine," he murmured.<p>

~LATER, IN THE RECOVERY ROOM~

Alice was half asleep, holding her husband's hand in a death grip.  
>"When do ya think we'll be able to see her?" she slurred. Their baby girl had been taken as soon as she came into the world, being two weeks premature. She was a teeny thing, and the doctors had taken her for observation.<br>"I don't know, sweetheart," He said, kissing the back of her hand. A nurse walked in, hanging a clipboard on the bottom on Alice's bed. "When...?" Derek didn't have to finish his question.  
>"Your daughter will be ready to see you by nine this morning," the nurse said with a kind smile.<br>Alice, thoroughly exhausted, passed out right after that, sleeping for seven hours, only waking up when Marissa was wheeled in at five am.  
>"How'd it go?" she asked, still half asleep.<br>"She was a breech baby." Marissa said with a groan.  
>"Really?" Alice asked, slightly more awake.<br>"No, I'm kidding," Marissa said grouchily. "Of course really."  
>"Are you and the baby okay?"<br>Marissa sighed, running a hand through her sweat soaked hair, nodding tiredly.  
>"I'd ask more questions, but I'm about to pass out, so goodnight." Alice muttered, before promptly falling asleep.<br>Marissa said goodnight to the husbands, before passing out herself.  
>The two brothers exchanged worried glances, before dragging armchairs to their respective wives and falling into a fitful sleep.<p>

~THAT MORNING ~  
>(1980, October 22, 8:45 am)<p>

"Where is my baby? I want to see her now!" hollered the distressed Alice.  
>"Patience, they are being brought down right now by the nurses," a very well tempered nurse said, seeing she <strong>had<strong> put up with the four's non-stop questioning since eight o'clock that morning.  
>At that moment two nurses came into the room holding two pink bundles. One nurse walked over to Darren and Marissa, the other walked over to Derek and Alice.<br>The two little girls were delicately placed in their mothers' arms and then the nurses left.  
>Alice's tiny baby was just waking up from a sleep in her pink blanket. She was so much smaller than Marissa's baby. When she opened her eyes, they discovered that she had piercing ice blue eyes, just like her mother. She had red lips and rosy cheeks that reminded Alice of her own mother's smiling face.<br>Marissa's daughter was a good seven pounds bigger than Alice's child, and had shining hazel eyes that looked animatedly up at her mother. The moms almost started crying with the wonder of holding their children for the first time.  
>Darren wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulders, leaning in to look at his daughter. Derek reached out a finger to brush the soft skin of his daughter's cheek, and her tiny hand reached up and grabbed the finger, giving her dad a huge, toothless baby grin. A couple silent tears worked their way out of the corners of Derek's eyes. He hadn't slept much that night, worrying about his baby; but her grip was strong. She was going to be alright.<br>Alice smiled through her own tears at the sight of her husband and daughter, praying to whatever gods there were that everything would work out.  
>"What are you going to name her?" Marissa asked, watching her best friend. The only thing they had kept from each other was the names of their children, discussing that with their husbands alone. Both couples had decided it would be best if their kids were given their mothers last names, so they wouldn't have to go through life explaining they weren't sisters; this was also why the mothers had kept their last names.<br>Alice looked up, smiling at Marissa after whipping her tears away. "Arianna Silver," Arianna let go of her dad's hand and yawned widely. "What's her name?" Alice asked, nodding towards the bundle in her best friend's arms  
>"Rowan, Rowan Night."<p>

**A/N: So what do you think so far? I know it's just back-story, but please let us know how you like it :D**


	2. First Encounters

A/N: So, chapter 2! Thanks to TheHalfBloodAuthor for reviewing! Not sure what happened with the spacing, but hopefully this chapter is better. We might come back in and edit this, because our beta is in Fiji, and internet is not so easy to come by. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter!

Arianna and Rowan were sitting on the floor, watching their mothers pack, both women throwing reminders at the other to 'not forget' this, and to 'remember to put that in the carry on'.  
>"Mommy, why are we moving?" asked ten-year-old Arianna, fiddling with her shoulder length strawberry blond hair.<br>"Ask your aunty!" Alice hollered as she flew out of the room to find her favourite earrings.  
>"Aunty, why are we moving?" Arianna repeated, dropping her hair back into place. Rowan elbowed her cousin in the ribs.<br>"They've told us a thousand times!"  
>"Rowan Night! I've told you a million times not to exaggerate," teased the dark haired girl's mother, shoving a dark sweater into her already jammed suitcase. "We're moving because you two are almost eleven, and we want you to go to the same school we did; Hogwarts!" Marissa gave up on manually stuffing the sweater into the bag and pulled out her wand and charmed it in.<br>"Why didn't I think of that before?" she muttered.  
>"What kind of name for a school is Hogwarts?" asked Arianna, wrinkling her nose.<br>"The best one," insisted Rowan's mother as she magically packed the rest of her clothes.  
>"How are my favourite ladies doing?" asked Derek as he entered the room, followed by his brother. Derek swept Arianna off her seat on the ground, and swung the giggling girl up onto his shoulder.<br>"We go!" he said dramatically, striding out of the room towards the room his daughter shared with Rowan to get the girls' bags before they left. The two families had sent almost all their furniture ahead of them, so all they had left to bring to England was their clothing and a few toys the girls wanted to keep.  
>"Put me down, Daddy!" giggled Arianna, smacking his back with open palms.<br>Rowan, whose own father had swung her onto his back piggyback style, was giggling at her friend's antics.  
>The two cousins, who had grown up like siblings, were not just related to each other, they were best friends, just like their mothers had been.<br>"What's the magic word?" Derek wanted to know, tickling his daughter's feet.

"P-please!" She choked out between fits of laughter, and her father set her down in the middle of their old room. Half of it was painted pale red, and had images of dragons and phoenixes painted by her mother in shades of darker red and orange. Rowan's half of the room was decorated with pictures of scudding clouds on a pale blue background. Both families shared a large apartment in the busy city of Vancouver, but when they moved to London, they'd be getting separate houses just outside the city, right across from each other.

"We need to go!" Yelled Alice, running through the now empty apartment one more time before grabbing her now packed bag. Arianna ran a sad hand along the red European dragon right by where her bed used to be, her favourite.

"Bye bye, Charlie." She said sadly.

~A MONTH LATER IN LONDON~

The families had gotten fairly settled in their new homes, and the two little girls had gotten their acceptance letters to Hogwarts. It was a week before the Hogwarts Express was set to leave Kings Cross, and the females of the family had gone shopping.

"Where are we going mom?" asked Arianna as she and Rowan were lead down the streets of London by their mothers. Hundreds of muggles were busy running from store to store, looking in windows and browsing the isles of small shops. The two witches led their daughters through the streets without even a second glance at the men and women passing by. It was much like a beehive, the humming of cars, trucks and buses filling the air, and bodies pressing in all around.

"I told you yesterday, we're going to get the two of you school supplies," Alice said as she headed towards a grungy looking pub. Over the door hung a metal sign of a witch stirring a cauldron.

"Where are we?" asked Rowan with a raised eyebrow at the pub.

"This, my dear, is The Leaky Cauldron," Marissa said as she stepped through the wooden frame and into the pub. As the girls walked inside, they were greeted by a vast assortment of smells, the sound of many voices assaulting their ears.

"This way, you two!" Said Alice, taking her daughter by the hand, Marissa doing the same to her daughter, and they pulled the girls towards the back room of the jam-packed pub.

"Why are-" Arianna was cut off by a glare from her mother.

"If you stopped asking so many questions…"

"You'd take her temperature and freak out because something would be wrong with her," Rowan quipped, looking pleased with her quick response. Alice grinned and nodded, agreeing completely.

Marissa rolled her eyes, and pulled out her wand, a nine-inch, willow, with unicorn hair centre, and tapped the bricks at the back of the room.

There was a rumbling sound and then the bricks began to shift and move until there was a gap in the wall about the size of a door. As impressive as the wall had been, what was behind it was even more so. Beyond the bricks was a long winding road with dozens of shops and stores. Dozens of men and women in strange clothing ran down the streets, most after rambunctious children who were running to stores, pressing their faces to the shop windows. There was a large assortment of colours, smells and sounds. There were many odd and unknown things that could be seen through the glass of the buildings. Even though Rowan and Arianna had always known they were witches, they had never been to a place such as this. It was all new for them.

Alice and Marissa stepped through the brick wall and gestured for the girls to follow.

"Welcome," started Alice.

"To Diagon Alley." Marissa joined Alice in introducing the strange and magical place. The girls stepped forward and as they walked through giant smiles seeped across their faces.

"So does this mean we can get our books and cauldrons?" asked Arianna with a lopsided grin and pleading eyes. Alice nodded with a smile.

"And our brooms?" squealed Rowan hoping for the best. Unfortunately Marissa shook her head.

"Didn't you read your letter Rowan? First years aren't allowed to bring their own brooms." Marissa told her extremely disappointed daughter. "Sorry sweetie, you'll have to wait till next year." Rowan stuck out her bottom lip and walked forward in a huff. However, it didn't take long for the lip to retract and her face to become an expression of awe.

"So what do we get first?" Alice asked the girls. Arianna's head snapped up and the word 'books' had left her lips before her head had even stopped moving. The three other girls laughed and Marissa began leading the way to the bookstore.

"Here we are, Flourish & Blotts. This is where we can get any and all Hogwarts textbooks." Marissa smiled as she led them into the busy store filled to the brink with books of all shapes, sizes, colours and even textures. It was an odd assortment. In one corner it even looked like there was a stack of fuzzy books that seemed to be growling.

Arianna's jaw had literally dropped to the floor when she had stepped inside. She loved books, loved how you could learn wonderful and wondrous things from them. She was an avid reader, and had read all the magical books that both Alice and Marissa owned, and a couple non-magical ones from her father and uncle.

"So Arianna, Rowan, what books do you need?" asked Alice smiling at her daughters awestruck face. Arianna seemed far too mesmerized to hear her mother, because she just kept on staring at the countless books. Rowan laughed and pulled out her Hogwarts letter.

"Let's see, first we need _The Standard Book of Spells: Grade one _by Miranda something or another." With that Alice grabbed Arianna and Rowans hands and dragged them to a shelf and placed a book in their arms.

"There we go. One down, seven to go. Next?" she asked Rowan.

"Next is_ A History of Magic_ by Bathilda Bagshot." Rowan said with a sigh. She hated history.

"Okay, here it is. What's after that?" Marissa said putting a new book in each of the girls' arms.

"_Magical Theory_ by Adelbert Waffling and _A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration_ by Fanerse Switch." Rowan said giving two book titles so both her mom and her aunt could work simultaneously.

"Okay here." Alice said placing the Magical Theory textbooks on top of the girls' piles.

"And here's the other one. Next?" Marissa asked while placing the books on top of the ever-increasing pile.

"_One thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ by Phyllida Spore and _Magical Drafts and Potions_ by something Jigger." Rowan said as she struggled to read her letter with all the books in her arms. Again the two adults went off and searched for the books. Once they came back Arianna let out a sequel.

"One thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi! I can't wait to read it, and then I will know what exactly it is that daddy does. That and I love nature. Flowers and trees and stuff! There just so pretty and full of life!" Everyone just chuckled at her display. They all knew she was really looking forward to Herbology. Derek and Darren worked at an environmentalist organization, Derek with plants and animals, Darren with water conservation. Both the girls knew their fathers were elementals, but they were made to promise to never, under any circumstance, tell anyone.

"All right Arianna calm down. You can read it when we get home," Alice told her ecstatic daughter. "What are the last two, Rowan?" she asked, glancing at her niece who had a smile gracing her face.

"Last is _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ and," she paused, her smile growing even wider. "_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_!" She was literally bouncing when Alice came and put the book on the top of her pile. Rowan had always been interested in Defence Against the Dark Arts, the stories that her mother and aunt Alice told her and Arianna about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named interesting her greatly. She wanted to be an auror when she grew up, and follow in her mother's footsteps.

"Alright, I think that just about does it." Marissa said as she ushered her daughter and her sister-in-law's daughter towards the till. They paid for their items and left the shop. Marissa put all of the books into her bag, which had been enchanted to be bigger on the inside.

After that they headed back to the entrance from the Leaky Cauldron so they could go down the whole alley without missing anything.

First on the right was a store called Slug & Jiggers Apothecary. They passed this store however because it had nothing they needed. They turned to the right instead and went into the cauldron shop. They came out ten minutes later with two standard size two pewter cauldrons.

They then headed down the street passing a few smaller shops until the two girls both stopped then ran in different directions. Arianna ran towards Eeylops Owl Emporium and pressed her nose up against the window to get a better look. While on the other side of the street Rowan had her face pressed up against the glass of Quality Quidditch Supplies gazing longingly at the Nimbus 2000. Both girls had to be literally peeled away from the windows by their mothers.

They then went to the Stationary Store and picked up parchment, quills, ink and other small necessities.

After that they headed past Flourish & Blotts to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. The two girls walked in first and were met by the smile of a plump elderly witch.

"Shopping for your first Hogwarts robes?" she asked Rowan and Arianna. They nodded and the lady smiled again. "Splendid. My name is Madam Malkin and I think I can help you two lovely young ladies out." She glanced behind Arianna and Rowan at Alice and Marissa. "And if memory serves, I helped your mothers when they first came shopping for their Hogwarts robes." The two mothers nodded with smiles. "Well let's see, the two of you are quite small, you particularly." She said nodding towards Arianna who blushed. "This way," she said walking swiftly away into the masses of clothing racks. The girls fallowed leaving Alice and Marissa behind.

"She seems nice." Rowan whispered to Arianna who was frowning.

"I'm not that small. Am I?" she asked Rowan just as quietly.

"No Arianna. You're not that small. You're just not that big either," She joked, earning only a grumble from Arianna. They came up to Madame Malkin who had stopped and was looking through a rack of black robes.

"AHA!" she hollered causing the girls to jump. "Here we are!" she pulled out two black robes and handed one to Rowan and one to Arianna. "Try these on." The girls did as told and they found the robes fit perfectly, which caused the cheerful lady in front of them to flash a bright smile. "Perfect!" she concluded pulling three more out for each girl. "These are your four work robes. Now if memory serves, you also need a winter cloak, a hat and some protective gloves." She started to walk to the back of the store and Rowan and Arianna fallowed.

"What kind of gloves are these?" asked Arianna as she and Rowan were handed a pair of scaly black gloves each.

"Dragon hide." Madam Malkin said matter-of-factly and began walking to another corner of the store.

Arianna frowned at them. "I like dragons," She muttered, earning an eye roll from Rowan. They quickly ran to catch up with Madam Malkin, Arianna almost tripping on her robes.

"Try this on." Madam Malkin ordered, handing a black pointed hat to each of them. Arianna brushed her strawberry blond hair behind her ears and pulled the hat onto her head. Rowan yanked the ponytail from her wavy ebony locks and pulled her hat on as well. "Do they fit okay?" asked Madam Malkin kindly.

"Yes Madame. Mine fits really well." Rowan said offering the woman a smile, which she returned.

"Mine fits perfectly to." Arianna said smiling as well.

"Wonderful!" she cried as she began trailing through the store again. "So all that's left now is the cloaks," She stopped in front of another rack and began rifling through. "What about this" she said pulling out a cloak and handing it to Rowan. As Rowan tried on the black cloak with silver fastenings Arianna was handed a smaller one as well. As they had assumed the cloaks fit perfectly. With a satisfied smile Madam Malkin led the girls to the front till where they met their mothers.

"Thank you, Madam Malkin." Marissa said as she finished paying for the girls' robes.

"You're welcome Marissa, sweetie. Hope to see you again soon dears," She said smiling at Arianna and Rowan. The four then left the store and continued down Diagon Alley. As they were walking they heard some call to Alice and Marissa.

"Molly!" Alice said turning around to face a plump red headed women.

"Molly!" Marissa also cried seeing who had called to them.

"Marissa, Alice! What's it been? Eleven years? How are you?" she asked not pausing to let the women answer the first question.

"We've been good, Molly. How have you been? The twins doing well? They were so small last time we saw them. Right Alice?" Rowan said glancing at Alice who nodded.

"The twins are good and actually there's two more now. I had a girl – Ginny who is ten and then there's my other boy whose going to Hogwarts this year – Ronald," She said gesturing towards a red headed boy who was exiting Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour with a chocolate ice cream cone in his hand. Well more accurately, on his face.

"Awe, look at him. He's adorable!" Marissa Squealed.

"Ron, come here!" Molly called as the boy jogged over finishing his ice cream as he went. Once he got there, Molly shook her head grabbed the napkin from his hand and wiped the chocolate off his face. "Ron, this is Alice Silver and Marissa Night. I knew them a long time ago." Ron nodded, and this was when Rowan poked her head around Marissa's side.

"Oh, Marissa! You didn't tell me you had kids!" Molly squealed as Arianna poked her head around Alice. "You to Alice!" The mothers nodded and pulled their daughters out in front of them.

"This is Arianna Silver. This will be her first year at Hogwarts to." Alice said giving Arianna a slight nudge towards Ron.

"And this is Rowan Night. Her first year, too." Rowan smiled sheepishly at the women before her and her son.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both. My name is Molly Weasley." She extended her hand to Rowan and then Alice who both shook it shyly. "Why don't you three go get to know each other and me and you mothers can catch up a bit." Molly suggested pushing her son forward a bit. He smiled goofily and tapped Rowan on the shoulder.

"You're it!" he yelled running away towards a bench by the ice cream parlour. Rowan smiled before smacking Arianna on the arm and mimicking Ron's words and running away.

"How immature," Arianna muttered before a smile spread across her lips and she chased after Ron who was poorly hidden behind a trashcan.

By the time the adults had finished talking, there was a huge game of tag being played. To start off it was just Rowan, Arianna, and Ron but within ten minutes a skinny boy named Seamus and a neat looking boy named Dean had asked to join. Five minutes after that a girl named Hannah asked to join. Then a group of four girls asked to join. Their names were Terry, Mandy, Padma and Pavarti. Lastly a boy named Neville and a girl named Lavender came and joined. Rowan and Arianna thought it was really cool to be able to play and get to know their classmates. Even if the way they did it was a little bit immature.

At one point, the two cousins stopped to watch a platinum blond boy their age tugged on his father's robes, looking hopefully from their game back to his dad's icy eyes. The girls thought he would come join them, but this father took one sneering look at the game and snapped something at his son, who looked disappointed. Rowan's and Arianna's attention was brought back to the game when Pavarti smacked Rowan on the arm, gleefully yelling 'you're it!' before running off. Rowan gave her cousin a mischievous grin. Arianna squealed and ran off, the two almost completely forgetting the blond boy with all the fun they were having.

Eventually though Marissa and Alice came and got the two girls.

"Bye everyone! See you at school!" The two girls chorused as they walked away from the red headed boy.

"Yeah! See you later!" he called before the girls turned around and headed towards Ollivander's.

"What's left to get mom?" asked Arianna.

"Just your wands." Alice said with a smirk as the girls eyes widened and the picked up the pace. Once they reached the shabby little shop Arianna and Rowan could see a single wand sitting in the wind display on a purple cushion. They walked inside and the girls froze. The store was lined floor to ceiling with thousands of slim boxes. Just then a thump was heard from the other side of the counter among the stacks of wands, and they turned to see a scraggly old man climbing down a sliding ladder that had just stopped.

"Alice Silver and Rowan Night. Still best friends I see. I can still remember when you two walked into my store looking to buy your first wand." He finished climbing down the steps and turned to face the younger girls. "And you two must be Night and Silver junior, am I right?" The girls nodded.

"My name is Rowan Night." Rowan squeaked, a little intimidated by the man in front of her.

"And I'm Arianna Silver, sir." Arianna said just as shakily.

"Of course you are." He said in a shallow almost sad voice, almost like he knew something about them they didn't even know. The girls found it a little bit unnerving.

"Well, let's get started!" he said, clapping his hands briskly as her turned to the shelves of wands. He ran a finger over a row, before stopping on a dark blue one, which he pulled out. "For Miss Silver," He said, opening the box to reveal a long, dark wand with oak leaves winding up its length. The handle was made of a lighter wood, with a criss-cross pattern on top, and an indent for the users thumb. "It is fourteen inches, oak, with a unicorn hair core." Arianna hesitantly reached out and took the wand, holding it in her right hand and wondering what she was supposed to do. Mr. Ollivander sighed, muttering about how under-educated the young witches and wizards of today were, getting sheepish grins from Alice and Marissa.

"You've got to give it a flick," He said, demonstrating with his empty hand. Arianna did so, causing red and gold light to spurt from the wand and weave themselves into what looked something like Celtic knot work. She wasn't sure if this was a good or bad thing, but Mr. Ollivander seemed impressed.

"That is the wand for you," He said kindly, before turning briskly back to the stacks and running another finger over the boxes. Arianna carefully put the wand back in its box, a huge smile plastered on her face.

Ollivander, who had vanished into the shelves, reappeared with a red wand box. "For Miss Night," He smiled as he opened the box. Rowan replaced her cousin at the counter, peering at the wand in the box. The wand was fairly short, a dark green with a lighter green band that divided the handle from the rest of the wand. "Nine inches, willow, with a unicorn hair centre," Mr. Ollivander informed her as she excitedly reached to take it. When she flicked it, however, a small vase of flowers on the counter wilted and blackened. Mr. Ollivander tutted, and revived the flowers with his own wand before taking the incompatible wand from Rowan's shocked grip. "Not this one," He muttered, retreating back behind the stacks.

Rowan looked troubled, until Arianna poked her in the side. "Haha! Did you see that? We're gonna be able to fix wilted flowers after we go to school!" Arianna exclaimed, more than a little excited. Mr. Ollivander came back then, holding a bottle green box.

"Try this one. It's a ten inch, willow wand with a dragon heart-string core." He opened the box to reveal a black wand much like the first, but with purple a purple band instead of a green one. She tentatively gripped the handle, and with a little encouragement from Mr. Ollivander and Arianna, gave it a flick.

Mist poured from the tip of the wand, and wriggled through the air to weave around Rowan like old friends. She giggled as one tickled her ear before all the strands of mist dissipated.

"There we go," Mr. Ollivander said, taking both cases to the till once Rowan had placed her wand back in its box. The girls' mother paid for the wands, and, after thanking Mr. Ollivander, they headed out into the alley.

On their way out of Diagon Alley, they passed Eeylops Owl Emporium again, and both girls looked to their mothers with pleading eyes.

"The letter said we could bring an owl to school, can we please?" Arianna begged, giving her mom the best puppy eyes she could work up.

"Please?" Rowan asked, yanking on the sleeve of her mother's sweater.

Alice glanced at her watch, then shot a look at Marissa.

"You can take a quick look around," She consented, smirking. "No promises, though."

The girls ran, squealing, into the Emporium, followed at a slower pace by their mothers. They looked eagerly at the many owls in their cages, peering at the half-asleep birds with critical eyes.

"I like this one!" Arianna proclaimed, stopped at a cage holding a light, female, barn owl, who looked at her interestedly with huge, solemn eyes that reminded Alice of her daughter's own gaze. The young owl fluffed her feathers, not sure what to make of the girl disturbing her sleep.

Rowan was looking through a cage holding a female tawny, the owl adjusting her caramel-coloured wings as she blinked at her visitor.

"I want her," Rowan said, full of conviction. The mothers stifled laughter.

"Maybe for Christmas," said Marissa. The younger girls, begging and pleading, were practically dragged from the owl emporium.

~SEPTEMBER FIRST~

"Arianna, Rowan! Would you two sit still! We will be leaving in ten minutes. But until then sit and finish eating your breakfasts." Darren reprimanded, as the girls stopped fidgeting and shovelled some cereal into their mouths. Rowan had insisted she slept over at Arianna's the night before school. Her parents had agreed under the condition that she was able to get her school trunk across the street to the Silver's place. Much to their amazement, she had managed it, and the Silver's had a houseguest for the night. The Night's came over early the next morning, to help with preparations.

Marissa and Alice walked by, charming the girl's trunks so they flew through the air and into the respective vehicles they were taking.

"Do you think we'll make many friends?" Arianna worried, talking to her cousin through a mouthful of cereal.

"Of course we will! Who doesn't like us?" Rowan said with a grin, before shoving another spoonful of cereal into her maw.

The girls had gone to Muggle School when they were in Canada, but going to a wizarding school was sure to be far more exciting. Arianna hoped that there wouldn't be any bullies at Hogwarts, because she was teased mercilessly about her height at her old school. Rowan was more worried about her teachers, having had a particularly bad grade three teacher. They didn't know what they had coming.

~IN THE CAR~

"Are we there yet?" Rowan asked excitedly, peering out of her side of the minivan her father was driving.

"We'll get there when we get there," Marissa said for the third time. The rambunctious eleven-year-old would have been bouncing out of her seat with excitement if it weren't for the strict seatbelt rule enforced by her father. Behind the silver minivan was Alice's bright red pickup truck, Arianna stretched out across the back seat, bothering her parents with excessive chatter.

"What if no one likes me? What if I fall out of the train? What if I don't like my teachers? How come I couldn't go in the van with Rowan? Are we almost there? What if I get put in Slytherin? How am I supposed to send you letters if I don't have an owl? " She kept chatting to herself, her parents mostly ignoring her.

"Imagine the sound of silence," Derek whispered to his wife. Alice sighed.

"I've almost forgotten what silence is."  
>"Are you two paying attention to me?" Alice tore her eyes from the road for a moment to give her daughter a smile.<p>

"Of course we are, sweetie." She looked back to the road. Arianna fiddled with a small hole in the upholstery.

"Good, because I'm having a cr- a cri- a cry-"

"A crisis?" Derek asked his daughter incredulously.

Arianna nodded. "Yeah, one of those."

~KING'S CROSS STATION~

Rowan and Arianna were looking around the huge train station with wide eyes, the bustling area, full of people completely overwhelming them. The two were pushing their heavy carts full of their school supplies in front of them.

"Platform nine and three quarters is this way." Marissa said with a grin.

The girls and their fathers followed the witches through King's Cross station until they came to platform nine, platform ten across from it.

"I'm confused." Arianna muttered in Rowan's ear, getting a nod from the raven-haired girl.  
>The mothers hadn't stopped, and both strode towards a seemingly random stone pillar down a ways from where the platforms first started.<p>

"Come on girls!" Alice hollered, glancing at the clock. "We've got ten minutes before the train leaves!" Eyes still on the clock, she didn't seem to see the stone column in front of her.

"Aunty Alice! Loo-" Rowan tried to warn her, but the it wasn't needed. Alice simply kept walking right through the pillar.

"Oh," The girls' jaws hit the floor.

"I'm glad they warned us about that," Darren muttered to his twin.

With a bit of coaxing from Marissa, the girls made their way through the magical barrier and reappeared to see the sign proclaiming "Platform 9 ¾," and the steam billowing from a bright red train. The platform was quite loud, with parents yelling reminders to their children, and everyone loading their trunks into the various compartments.

"Now remember, we don't care which house you get sorted into, you two well wherever you end up." Alice said kindly to the children, smiling at their scared faces.

"We'll disown you if you get put in Slytherin! No pressure," Said Marissa with a wink, recruiting Darren to help her take the girls' carts to the luggage compartments.

Alice rolled her eyes.

"Mommy? Can you _please _tell us how we get sorted? Please?" Arianna begged, frustrated that her mother and aunt had not divulged this information sooner.

"Sorry, sweetheart. It's a better surprise when you don't know." Alice said with a smile, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. Rowan sighed.

"Did you _really_ expect her to tell us?"

~TEN MINUTES LATER~

"Bye mom! Bye dad!" The girls yelled out the train door's window, waving wildly at their parents' retreating forms as the Hogwarts Express pulled away from the platform. Arianna took a deep breath, closing the window once the platform was out of sight.

"Here we go." She said quietly, wondering if Hogwarts would be as pleasant as her mother and aunty Marissa had described it.

"Where do you want to sit Rowan?" Arianna asked as they headed through the train looking for an empty or not completely full car.

"I don't know, Arianna, just find one already. I feel stupid just walking around," Rowan then opened a car door and poked her head inside. There were only two people sitting inside. One of them, a frizzy haired girl with brown eyes and a sharp nose, and the other, a stubby little boy with dark brown hair and a toad in his hands, who looked really familiar. "Hello, is it okay if we sit with you guys? Everything else is pretty much full." Rowan said to the two people who had looked up at the girls' sudden arrival.

"Sure, come have a seat. I read that the train is always full and that the size changes to accommodate the number of people on it." The frizzy haired girl said as Arianna and Rowan took the two empty seats. Rowan beside the girl and Arianna beside the boy, whose toad was now hopping around the floor of the car. "My names Hermione by the way, Hermione Granger."

"Hello. My name is Rowan Night, and this is Arianna Silver." Rowan said pointing across to Arianna.

"You remember me? I'm Neville." Asked the boy with the toad, looking hopeful

"I knew you looked familiar." Rowan said with a grin.

Neville's face broke out in a huge smile, happy to be remembered.

"You're one of the boys from Diagon Alley that we played tag with!" Rowan said with a smile.

"That's where you're from! I couldn't place you before." Arianna smiled as she looked at the plump boy next to her. "You like plants?" she asked as she noticed a Herbology book propped up on his lap.

"Yeah. It's really interesting. I used to garden with my Grandma when I was younger. I always found it fun," He said sheepishly as a blush crept across his cheeks.

"Really? Me too. Well except I used to garden with my dad. He really loves plants and animals, so he taught me when I asked him to," She smiled back, and when she realised that she was actually having her first real conversation with another Hogwarts student. That was definitely not like her at all.

Arianna had never been good with strangers. It normally took her quite a while to warm up to others and have normal, non - awkward conversation with them. Nothing like what had just happened between her and Neville. She then looked away with a smile. Maybe this was a new her. Maybe she wasn't going to be the shy awkward girl anymore… but then again; you never know what might happen. Maybe there were more changes to come.

Meanwhile, Rowan was having an extremely one-sided conversation with Hermione.

"I like your hair! It's so poofy! Is it natural, or do you curl it or something?" she blabbered. "I can tell you like books, you have that huge bag filled with them. I'm not really a bookworm but Arianna likes them quite a bit. As for me, I like music. Do you like music?"

"Umm, yeah I like music but I enjoy books much more." Hermione paused. "And yes my hair is natural!" she said, cutting Rowan off as she went to ask her again, gesturing at Hermione's hair.

"TREVOR!" Neville broke the silence. "Where's Trevor gone?" Neville asked as he stood up and began to frantically search the car. "He must have gotten out!" He said running his hands through his hair in an obvious sign of distress.

"Calm down Neville! You and I will go search the rest of the train. Rowan, Arianna why don't you stay here and search the car?" Hermione said bossily, and before the girls could answer, she had grabbed the distressed Neville by the arm and dragged him out.

"I guess we're looking for a toad." Rowan said as she got on her knees and began searching the floor of the car.

"You have to look up high too when it comes to frogs and toads. They're very good at getting into small places, up high and down low." Arianna said as she got on top of the seat she had been sitting on and searched the overhead compartments.

The two girls were searching when the door to the car flew open and two boys came flying in. They had their backs to the girls, and as they closed the door and began backing up, the darker skinned boy began to speak quietly. "Do you think we lost them?"

The platinum blond haired boy began to respond. "If you don't be quiet there going to-" He was cut off when he fell over Rowan, who was sitting on the floor on the floor looking really confused. The first boy spun around at the sound of his friend hitting the floor. As he turned, he hit Arianna, who was standing on the seat, causing her to topple off, pushing him and her to the ground, where Rowan was in a heap under the blond boy, who looked dazed. Once everyone had finished crashing to the floor on top of one another, a series of groans and 'ouch's' proceeded to fill the air.

There was an awkward silence and then, "UGH! COULD YOU ALL GET OFF OF ME! I CAN'T, UGH, BREATH!" Rowan screamed from the bottom of the pile.

Arianna sat up and the darker skinned boy grabbed her elbows and helped hoist her up. The two rose together and moved to the side, so the blond could get up. He jumped off Rowan, then turned around and grabbed Rowan's hand and pulled her from the floor, where she was groaning and grumbling about 'not being a door mat'.

"Umm, sorry," The blond said as he let Rowan go and a shade of red began to colour his cheeks. "We didn't realize there was anyone in here."

"Well obviously!" Arianna grumbled as she put her hand to her chest. "Way to give a girl a heart attack!"

"We really are sorry. We, umm, didn't mean to intrude like that, but uh… Yeah well hi, I'm Blaise." The darker boy said extending a hand to Arianna, then over to the still grumbling Rowan.

"And I'm Draco Malfoy, pureblood." The blond said extending his hand out to Rowan. He held his chin up high and when he had told them he was a 'pureblood' it was obvious that that statement was important to him.

"Umm, yeah, nice to meet you. My name is Arianna Silver." She extended her hand out to Blaise and then Draco. They took her hand and then turned their attention to Rowan.

"Yeah, my name's Rowan Night, not 'the door mat,' just so we're clear," She said throwing a glare at Draco whose cheeks had become a shade redder.

"Again, we're sorry!" Draco said with a sheepish smile. "Are we forgiven?" he asked looking at Rowan who was still glaring at him. Slowly her scowl cracked and was replaced by a grin.

"Yeah I guess you're forgiven. Who exactly are you hiding from?" Rowan asked remembering there earlier words.

"Umm, well… you see, there's these two pumpkin brains who, umm, well… they think we're best friends and… well… we're not. So… yeah… we ran." Blaise said as way of an explanation.

"Well that was specific." Arianna said to Blaise with a hint of a laugh in her voice.

"Where are you two from? You don't sound like us." Draco blurted out. The two girls chuckled. They couldn't even remember how many times they had answered that question since they entered the UK.

"We are originally from Canada, but we moved here because our mothers wanted us going to Hogwarts like they had." Arianna quipped.

She looked up at the dark skinned boy before her. He was wearing black kakis with a white dress shirt. As she glanced over to the platinum blond boy she noticed that he was garbed in a similar manner. She turned back to Blaise and couldn't help but stare into his deep chocolate brown eyes.

At that very moment Rowan was regarding the boys, Arianna and herself in the same manner. She looked at Arianna, her strawberry blond redhead cousin with piercing blue eyes and simple jeans and blue T-shirt. Arianna was very small. She had been since she was born and even though Rowan wasn't big, she always felt like she was around Arianna. But not in that moment. Even she was a good three inches shorter than the boys standing in front of them. Draco was taller than Blaise, but not by much.

She looked up at Draco and met his silver grey depths and became instantly self-conscious. She looked down at herself and gave herself a once over to make sure everything was in check. She didn't see anything wrong with her appearance. Her jeans weren't bunched up, her purple shirt wasn't dishevelled and from what she could see her wavy ebony locks were hanging off her shoulders okay. Rowan could only hope that her face looked okay and that her greenish hazel eyes weren't giving her thoughts away.

"So Silver and Night? I've heard those names before. Are your parents purebloods?" Blaise asked curiously.

"Well our moms are purebloods but our dads aren't." Rowan said proudly lifting her head and sticking her chin out a little. Both the girls' mothers had always talked to them about how blood didn't matter, and being a pureblood meant nothing if you were a stuck-up snob. Both children had heard their parents' stories about how they met, and about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Both mothers had taught their daughters that blood didn't matter. Rowan and Arianna had grown up with the stories of Lilly Potter, and all their mothers' old friends, most of whom were half-bloods or muggle-borns.

"Oh, so your half bloods. That's cool I guess." Blaise said, his smile become a little smaller. Draco seemed to sneer a bit, before Blaise elbowed him in the ribs with a glare before turning to the compartment door. "I think the coast is clear." Blaise said, peeking out the car door. "We should get out of here before Crabbe and Goyle head back this way." Draco nodded then turned back to Rowan.

"I guess I will see you at school. Sorry for barging in so rudely," He said, his tone a bit cooler than before, then he exited the car.

Blaise turned around and looked at Arianna then Rowan. "See you both later, and thanks for letting us hide in your car," He said, his tone seemingly apologetic. And with that both boys were gone as quickly as they had come.

"Well that was weird," Arianna said sitting down with a thump, rubbing the elbow that she had hit when she had fallen.

"Yeah, weird," Rowan said absentmindedly staring at the car door. She then quickly turned around and sat with a thump of her own. Rowan pulled out her mother's star opal necklace and began fiddling with the charm. Across from Rowan, Arianna was doing the same thing with her mother's charm bracelet. They had been the going-away presents from their mothers. They were magical replicas, Rowan's being an exact replica, and Arianna's bracelet only having a replica of her grandmother's rose charm. Her father had given her a charm, an oak leaf, and Rowan had given her a heart. She didn't have Alice's plethora of charms, but it reminded her of her parents and her cousin. Both girls cherished their jewellery.

About twenty minutes later the door of the car was flung open and a depressed looking Neville walked in fallowed by Hermione who wore a concerned look.

"Did you find him?" Arianna asked hopefully. Neville only grumbled and Hermione shook her head.

"We're going back out to look, but we needed to get into our robes first. We're almost at Hogwarts." She walked over to her seat and stood on it to reach her trunk on the shelf above the seats. Neville was doing the same so Arianna and Rowan got up and began going through their trunks as well.

"Bloody hell! Where on earth are my robes?" Rowan grumbled as she ripped through her trunk. Arianna just sighed, standing from her seat in her new black robes and stepped over to Rowan.

"You're hopeless you know." She said as she unhooked a pocket inside revealing the bottom half of the trunk. She then pulled out a black robe, black sweater vest and black kakis, white blouse and black flats. She handed them to Rowan and directed her to change. Neville – who had been instructed to leave while the girls changed after he was done - could be heard calling for his toad outside the car.

"Poor boy," Rowan said as she pulled her sweater vest over her blouse and fixed the collar.

"I hope he finds his toad." Hermione sighed as she pulled her frizzy hair out from under her cloak.

Arianna looked sadly at the door. "Me too," She muttered under her breath.

"Well that ought to do it." Rowan said spinning in a circle for the two girls to see. As she finished her three hundred and sixty degree rotation she tripped over her trunk and landed in a heap on the floor.

Arianna and Hermione laughed. "Well that was graceful Rowan. 100 points for sticking the landing!" Arianna choked through fits of laughter.

"Shut your mouth, Arianna," Rowan growled, as her cheeks became a vivid red with embarrassment.

"Time to go!" Neville said loudly from outside the door. "The train is stopping now." The girls still laughing exited the car. Rowan had given up scowling and was now laughing alongside her friends, because even she had to admit, it had been funny. As they stepped off the train at the train platform in Hogsmead, behind a scruffy black haired kid and Ron whom they remembered from Diagon Alley, they spotted an extremely large, hairy man standing about ten meters to their left, encased in the glow of his lantern and hallowed by the light of the moon.

"Right, then. Firs' years this way, please! Come on, now! Firs' years! Don't be shy. Come on now, hurry up! Come on!" He hollered in a booming voice. All the nervous first years began heading in his direction. Arianna and Rowan laughed as they heard Ron gasp at the sheer size of the man directly in front of him.

"Hello Harry!" The man said as he looked down at the scruffy haired boy with glasses directly in front of Rowan and Arianna.

"Hi, Hagrid!" The scruffy boy exclaimed looking up at the man.

All eyes then turned to Ron as he exclaimed "Whoa!" in a rather loud voice. Hagrid just shook his head and began addressing all the first years.

"Righ', then. This way to the boats! Come on, now. Follow me!" The fairly large number of first years began slowly traveling down the road after Hagrid, who was humming to himself a song that neither Rowan nor Arianna recognized.

As they approached the lake they saw dozens of boats lining the shore. Off in the distance lay a beautifully crafted, medieval looking castle was ablaze in light flowing through the countless windows.

"Wicked!" Ron said rather loudly again, mouth agape at the sight before him.

"Stole the words right out of my mouth, Ron," Arianna said as she absentmindedly raised a hand to push Rowan's mouth shut. It was magnificent. Even from where they were, they could still see the many towers and courtyards as well as the surrounding grounds. There was a dark forest around the back of the castle and the farther most right corner of the grounds. The lake was black except for the glistening reflection of the castles lights and the starry night sky. The two cousins were more than speechless, that was for sure.

Rowan and Arianna - who were near the front of the procession - were one of the first people to climb onto the boats. They were then joined by Hermione, a boy named Shamus, Dean, who was one of the people who had played tag with them, and a distressed looking Neville, who was whimpering his toad Trevor's name.

The boat ride was quite short and not much was said, for everyone was still gazing up at the place they would call home for the next seven years with awe-struck expressions. Rowan was, however, gazing at the water. She didn't know why but she felt as if someone was staring up at them from below the surface. And although it didn't scare her, it did unnerve her a bit.

The boats pulled up onto docks in what appeared to be a boathouse. Hagrid stepped out of his boat and walked towards a large wooden door. A couple seconds after he pounded on the door, it opened and an elderly women in emerald green dress robes stepped forth.

"Follow me please." She said in a gentle, yet oddly commanding voice. "Welcome to Hogwarts!" she called back as she continued to walk, leading the kids up a flight of stairs. As she entered a room with hundreds of trophies and prizes of all shapes and sizes, she turned around and addressed the first years. "Now, in a few moments you will pass through these doors and join your classmates, but before you take your seats, you must be sorted into your houses." She paused and a rush of whispers exploded around the room.

"Do you think everyone has to watch you get sorted?" Arianna asked Rowan with a worry line dominating the space between her eyebrows. Rowan was about to answer when the women started to speak again, capturing the attention of everyone in the room.

"The houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin." She paused only long enough to take a breath then began again. "Now while you're here, your houses will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points. Any rule breaking and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup."

Just then a toad came jumping out from behind the women's robes and Neville went flying forward.

"TREVOR!" He yelled forgetting where he was due to the fact he was far too relieved to find that pesky toad of his. He then realized what he had done when a couple snickers were heard from the crowd. "Sorry." He said sheepishly to the women before him. She just shook her head and began to speak again. Neville in the meantime slowly walked back to Arianna and Rowan who were smiling at him encouragingly.

"The sorting ceremony will begin momentarily." She said. And with that she exited the room through a separate door. There was a silence then a blond, all too familiar boy stepped forward to stand in front of Harry.

"It's true then, what they were saying on the train. Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts." As he said that dozens of first years whispered the name they had known since childhood in awe, including Neville who had been oblivious to the fact that he was standing right next to the famous Harry Potter.

Draco then gestured to three boys standing to his right. One of the boys was yet again familiar. "This is Crabbe, Goyle and Blaise." He said all but the last name in mild distaste and Rowan and Arianna understood why. The two boys were chubby little creatures with their noses sticking up so they were always looking down on you. "And I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy." He said, tilting his greased back hair crowned head to the side.

Standing to Rowan's left and two away from Arianna, Ron snorted rather ungracefully, his shoulders hunching in laughter.

"Think my names funny, do you?" Draco spat out turning in the girls' and Ron's direction for the first time. His gray eyes however landed on Ron and they engaged in a heated stare-down. "There's no need to ask you yours. Red hair," He paused looking Ron over with a sneer. "And a hand-me-down robe? You must be a Weasley." He stated more then asked before turning back to Harry. "You'll soon find out that some wizarding families are better than others, Potter." He said standing a little taller, and sticking his chin out a little further. "You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort." He said the last part looking over to Ron who was still giving his a look that made the saying 'if looks could kill' come to Rowan and Arianna's minds. He then turned to Harry and extended his arm. "I can help you there." He paused then looked at Rowan and Arianna. "The offer stands for you two, too." The girls just stared open mouthed at the boy who had just talked trash about their friend.

Harry took a small step forward and began to stand up to Draco. "I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks." He said dipping his head in Draco's direction. Draco let out a low growl and looked like he was about to shove Harry, and Harry looked like he was about to do the same thing back.

"Hey guys calm down now!" Arianna interjected grabbing Harry by the shoulders and pushing him away from Draco, while Rowan stepped between the two and looked up at Draco with a frown.

"Was that really necessary? Did you need to go and insult people you've never met; only heard about?" she reprimanded him. He just stuck out his chin and looked away from her. "Draco! You didn't treat us like that when we met, so I suggest you not treat others like that." He slowly turned his head towards her and looked at her defiantly. During that exchange, Arianna and Harry were having one of their own.

"There's no need to start trouble on your first day you know." Arianna sighed extending her hand out to him. "I'm Arianna by the way. And that over there is my cousin Rowan." She said pointing over her shoulder at the black haired girl who was scolding Draco.

"My names Har-"

"Harry Potter, I know." She said smiling at him as he shook her hand. She decided not to mention that her and Rowan's mothers had known his mom and dad quite yet, because it was their first day and all.

"It's nice to meet you." He said with a goofy smile making his glasses slide down the bridge of his nose.

Arianna giggled. "It's nice to meet you to." Just then Professor McGonagall walked into the room with determined strides.

"We're ready for you now. Follow me."

Arianna and Rowan stopped the conversations they were having with Draco and Harry and went to stand beside one another. _This is it._ They thought as they followed McGonagall through the doors.

They were led between a table filled with older-looking witches and wizards, and four long tables filled with boisterous students, to form into a bunch towards the left side of the room.

Arianna shifted nervously on the balls of her feet, straining to see over the heads of the other first years. She hated being so short. Rowan could see fine, and was muttering a description of the hall to her cousin.

"There's four long tables that go almost all the way to the back wall. You should be glad you can't see it! They're all watching us. Anyway, people at the table to the far left are all wearing black robes with red stuff on the collar. The middle left have yellow, the middle right has blue, and the far right is green. So Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin." Arianna nodded. The lady with the dark green robes, Professor McGonagall, brought a three-legged stool out in front of the group.

"She's putting a- is that a hat?"

"I don't know!" Arianna whispered, frustrated. She hopped up in a vain attempt to see over Ron's red head.

"It's so ratty and patched, I can't tell." Rowan said with a frown. "I thin-" Rowan was abruptly cut off when the sorting hat opened it's 'mouth' and started to sing.

"_Oh you may not think me pretty,  
>But don't judge on what you see,<br>I'll eat myself if you can find  
>A smarter hat than me.<br>You can keep your bowlers black,  
>Your top hats sleek and tall,<br>For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
>And I can cap them all.<br>There's nothing hidden in your head  
>The Sorting Hat can't see,<br>So try me on and I will tell you  
>Where you ought to be.<em>

_You might belong in Gryffindor,  
>Where dwell the brave at heart,<br>Their daring, nerve, and chivalry  
>Set Gryffindors apart;<br>You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
>Where they are just and loyal,<br>Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
>And unafraid of toil;<br>Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
>if you've a ready mind,<br>Where those of wit and learning,  
>Will always find their kind;<br>Or perhaps in Slytherin  
>You'll make your real friends,<br>Those cunning folks use any means  
>To achieve their ends.<em>

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
>And don't get in a flap!<br>You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
>For I'm a Thinking Cap!"<em>

All four tables burst out into cheering and clapping, and the first years watched the hat bow to the tables before becoming still again.

Ron leaned towards Harry, and the girls could hear him whisper, "So we've just got to try on the hat! I'll kill Fred; he was going on about wrestling a troll."

Rowan and Arianna suppressed giggles.

"That's not too bad," Arianna said. "I just wish we didn't have to have everyone watch."

Rowan nodded in agreement, still half-suppressing her giggles.

When they got over their laughter, the girls had room to feel nervous. Neither of them felt particularly like they belonged in any of the houses the hat mentioned. Arianna brought her thumb to her mouth to chew on a nail, a nervous habit she had picked up from her mother, when Rowan slapped it away; much like Marissa smacking Alice's hand away when she caught her best friend doing the same thing.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit in the stool to be sorted," Professor McGonagall announced a scroll of parchment in her hands so she could read out the first years' names.

Hannah Abbot and Susan Bones were sorted into Hufflepuff, Terry Boot into Ravenclaw, Lavender Brown into Gryffindor, and Millicent Bulstrode into Slytherin.

"They all look like such snots." Arianna muttered to Rowan, looking through a gap in the cluster of first years at the Slytherin table.

"Yup. We have a one-in-four shot of being put in there. What a horrible thought, eh?" Rowan sniggered, glancing at Draco a ways off, tapping his foot impatiently.

The two girls had whispered their way through a few sortings, noting the cries of "HUFFLEPUFF!" and "GRYFFINDOR!" Hermione was up; she seemed really eager, and not nervous at all as she jammed the hat on her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!" Rowan noted Ron groan at that word. She wondered why the two didn't get along, but put it to the back of her mind.

Neville was called up next. He was holding Trevor extremely tight as he made his way to the hat, falling over halfway there. He was placed in Gryffindor, and, grinning, got almost all the way to the table until he realized that the hat was still perched on his head. Everyone was laughing as he jogged back up to the front to give it to the next boy in line.

After Morag MacDougal, Draco swaggered forward, and Rowan clearly saw about an inch of air between ratty hat and platinum blond hair when the hat hollered "SLYTHERIN!"

"That'll please him," Arianna muttered to Rowan, remembering what her aunty Marissa had told her about pompous purebloods and their love of Slytherin. Rowan grunted.

Someone with the last name Moon was called up, and then it was Rowan's turn. She made her way to the stool, her knees shaking with nerves. She gingerly picked up the hat like it would bite her. It looked like such an old, abused thing; how could something so ragged determine the rest of her school career? She gently placed it on her head, then pulled herself onto the stool. The hat slid down until it was almost past her eyes. She had to grip the seat of the stool until her knuckles turned white to stop them from shaking.

"Where should I put you, hmm?" The hat muttered in Rowan's ear, seeming perplexed by something. "You've got a courageous heart, like a Gryffindor, but some day, your heart will belong to Slytherin. Hmm… for now…" Arianna noticed Draco looking at Rowan somewhat hopefully from the Slytherin table, but his face fell when the hat proclaimed "GRYFFINDOR!" The Gryffindor table broke into cheers and catcalls, Hermione and Neville ginning.

Rowan shot Arianna a smile as she set the hat down and practically skipped to the Gryffindor table to sit beside Hermione.

There were ten people left standing of the room at the front at this point; Arianna included. She felt all alone and exposed up there without her cousin. The only people she knew were Ron, now beside her, and Blaise somewhere off to her right. Oh, and Harry, but she didn't really _know_ him, more knew of him. Other than their one meeting outside of the great hall, and the stories she knew about his mom and dad, they had no other connection. When his name was called, the expected mutters ran through the hall, before the shaggy-haired boy was placed in Gryffindor. After that, Arianna's name was called, and it felt like the bottom had dropped from her stomach. For a horrifying second, she thought her legs weren't going to comply, and she would have to be carried to the hat, but then she lurched forward.

She stood in front of the stool for a second, before gently gripping the brim of the old hat. She hopped onto the stool before putting the hat on, and, like almost everyone before her, she thought it would swallow her whole head.

She jumped when the sorting hat started to speak in her ear. "Well. What am I going to do with you? You're going to be a difficult one to place," he muttered, seemingly to himself. "You're like your cousin! You've got the heart of a Gryffindor, and your heart will someday belong in Slytherin, but you've also got the soul of a Hufflepuff, and you would do well in Ravenclaw as well. What to do, what to do," the hat dissolved into murmuring things to himself that Arianna couldn't quite pick out. She was sitting on that stool for what felt like forever, her cheeks getting more and more red with every passing minute. There were a few uneasy mutters from most of the hall, and she was sure she could hear some snickers from the Slytherin table.

Rowan, at the Gryffindor table, was tapping her fingers against the table impatiently, hoping her cousin would be put in the same house as her. She had been introduced to most of the people around her, including Ron's older brother Percy Weasley, who shot her a look that made her stop tapping the table.

"You will do well in GRYFINDOR!" The hat finally decided, shouting the last word to the hall.

"Thank you," she told the hat, her words lost to all but the hat among the Gryffindors' cheering, and gently set the worn hat on the stool for the next person. She all but ran to the far left table, practically throwing herself down between Rowan and Neville.

"I thought he'd never place you!" Rowan squealed, hugging her best friend tightly.

"Me either," Arianna replied, somewhat breathless from her quick escape from the centre of attention.

"Welcome to Gryffindor," Said a boy with fiery hair quite like Ron's.

"This is Percy, one of Ron's older brothers," Rowan said. Apparently while Arianna had been trying to not throw up from nerves, Rowan had gotten to know everyone sitting around her. Percy hushed her before she could introduce anyone else. Rowan stuck her tongue out at him, and turned back to the sorting.

There were four people left to be sorted: Ron, Blaise, Dean, and a girl neither cousin was familiar with. Dean was sorted into Gryffindor, the girl to Ravenclaw. Then in was Ron's turn. He seemed to have turned a shade of sickly green as he pulled the hat on; the only thing stopping the hat's progress down his face were the humongous ears sticking out the side of his head. Relief flooded his face when he was put in Gryffindor. Ron took a seat across from Rowan, Arianna and Hermione, beside Harry, who was grinning.

After smiling at their friend and giving him two thumbs up, the girls turned back to the sorting, where Blaise was the last one left standing in front of everyone. He shot a look at Arianna as he made his way confidently to the stool, and was placed in Slytherin almost as soon as the hat touched his head. Arianna felt disappointment wash through her, though she really shouldn't have been that surprised.

The headmaster, Dumbledore, had stood up, said his a few words ("Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"), causing most of the room to laugh. Rowan had burst into giggles, but Arianna and Harry both seemed to not know what to do.

"Is he – a bit mad?" Harry asked Percy, looking quite concerned.

"Mad? He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes," he answered airily. "Potatoes, Harry?"

It was then that Arianna realized that food had suddenly filled the tables, everything imaginable, and some unimaginable. Everyone pilled their plates high, and dug in

Rowan went back to introducing everyone through a mouthful of chicken.

"Those two are Fred and George, Ron's other older brothers," She said, pointing at the twins with her fork. They seemed like the type that was always laughing and having a good time, cracking some joke about dragons to their friends. "And, actually, I think you know everyone else!" Rowan said, and took that moment to shove a forkful of mashed potatoes into her mouth. Neville poked Arianna tentatively in the side, and they started talking.

Both girls felt comfortable there, at that gold-and-red decorated table, new friends and slightly older ones talking about this strange new school they were in. This wouldn't be so bad.


	3. The World Cup

**A/N: Here's the next chapter! Hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: Obviously, we don't own Harry Potter. The only thing we own is Rowan, Arianna, their families, and the events from their own life.**

"MOM! DAD! THE WEASLEY'S INVITED ARIANNA AND I TO THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP FINALS!" Rowan screamed excitedly, thundering down the stairs from her bedroom. Her owl was clinging to her arm for dear life. For Christmas their first year, both Arianna and Rowan had gotten the owls they wanted from Eeylope's; Arianna named her beautiful barn Sorrel, and Rowan's tawny was named Xena.

"THEY'VE ALREADY GOT THE TICKETS!"

Rowan spun excitedly, sending Xena flying off her arm with a screech.

"What are you talking about?" Marissa asked, spoonful of cereal halfway to her mouth. Her and Darren were sitting at the dining room table, Darren reading the Daily Prophet while Marissa finished her breakfast before heading to work for the day.

"The Weasley's bought Arianna and me tickets to the Quidditch world cup finals." Rowan repeated slowly as she flopped down in the chair across from her mom, Xena settling on the back of her chair. Rowan was on the Gryffindor team with Harry, as a chaser, and followed the sport closely. Arianna loved Quidditch as much as her cousin, but didn't play. She had had a bad experience with a broom in first year, and wouldn't even go near one of the things. She was perfectly content to cheer her friends on with Hermione and Ron in the stands.

"That's ridiculous! They don't need to-" just then, the phone rang, the caller ID displaying Derek and Alice's number.

Darren, who had been quietly reading his paper and ignoring the discussion, grabbed the phone and hit talk.

Before he had the chance to say hello, Arianna's excited squealing burst from the tiny handset, filling the room with incomprehensible gibberish. Rowan's dad winced, jerking the phone away from his head.

"It's for you," he said, holding the phone out to Rowan.

"DID XENA BRING YOU A LETTER FROM THE WEASLEY'S?" Arianna hollered, sounding like she was ready to burst with excitement.

"YES! ARE AUNTY ALICE AND UNCLE DEREK GOING TO LET YOU GO?" Rowan wanted to know, shooting a grin at her parents, who were scowling at the noise she was making.

"I don't know, but nothing is going to stop us, am I right?" Arianna said, a bit calmer. "I mean, they already got us tickets!" she added, raising her voice so her parents could hear.

"Nothing at all will stop us from going," Rowan agreed.

Marissa threw her arms in the air, having put her empty cereal bowl in the sink, muttering about teenagers. "Get Alice on the phone," She said resignedly, reaching to take the phone from her daughter as she glanced at her watch. Rowan knew she still had twenty minutes before her mother and Alice had to Apparate into the ministry for their Auror work, and handed her mother the phone with a triumphant grin.

Both the girls were in Rowan's house, school trunks in hand. It was two days before the World Cup finals, and Marissa and Alice were Apparating the girls to the Burrow.

"Bye, see you two tonight," Darren said, kissing Marissa on the cheek before turning to his daughter. "You'll be good, right?" he wanted to know, ruffling her hair with a grin.

Derek had enveloped his wife in a hug before turning to look solemnly at his daughter.

"Do we have to go over the rules again?"

Arianna and Rowan rolled their eyes.

"We know, dad," they chorused, eager to get going. Their moms smiled, marveling at how much both their children had grown up.

"Alright, well have fun," Darren said with a grin. The twins had to go to work, even though it was the weekend. An Environmentalists work waited for no one. The girls listened to the sound of the truck they drove to work fire up, and leave the driveway, fading as it headed down the road.

Arianna whistled, and Sorrel swooped onto her arms from her previous perch on the top of the kitchen cabinets.

"Alright girl, into your cage sweetie," Arianna told her owl, opening the barn owl's cage on top of her trunk. Sorrel gave a resigned hoot, and hopped from Arianna's arm to the perch in her cage. Xena, however, wasn't as willing to re-enter her perceived prison.

"Come on, Xena!" Rowan begged, wanting to get going. The tawny owl clicked her beak stubbornly, shifting her grip on the cabinet top. Marissa grabbed a bag of owl treats from a kitchen drawer, and handed them to Rowan. Eventually the four women were able to coax Xena from the cabinet into her steel cage.

"Alright, lets go," Alice said, smiling at the deadly look Xena was giving her owner. Arianna and Rowan grabbed their trunks, and their mothers took the owls' cages. Arianna grinned at her cousin as both girls took their mothers' arms, and, with a jerk, the Night's house peeled away. They reappeared in the Burrow's living room.

A small ball of feathers collided with the side of Marissa's head, drawing a squeak of surprise from the woman.

"RON! Your owl is abusing people again!" came Ginny's unmistakable voice. "Sorry about that. Pig is still learning his manners," she apologized. Marissa peered skeptically at the feathery ball ricocheting around the room.

"That's an owl?" she asked, rubbing the side of her head, trying to get her dark hair to fall straight again. Ginny nodded, glaring at the fast-moving wad.

"A very annoying one."  
>The blur of feathers came to a screeching halt on top of Sorrel's cage, and everyone could see that it was, indeed, a teensy tiny pigmy owl. Sorrel peered up at the thing in annoyance, puffing her feathers out and glaring at the intruder. Just then, there was the thunderous noise of what could only be Ron running down the stairs.<p>

"Who could he be- Oh, hi Rowan! Hi Arianna!" He greeted them; his face breaking into a huge grin, until he saw his owl perched on Sorrel's cage. "Pig! Get out of here!" he ordered his owl, being completely ignored. Mrs. Weasley came bustling around the corner of the kitchen, wrapping the girls' mothers in huge hugs.

"So glad you two could come! Can you stay for dinner?" she asked, getting a head shake from both witches.

"We promised our husbands we'd go out to a movie with them tonight," Alice said wistfully.

"I really wish we could, just thinking about your food makes me hungry," Marissa said with a sigh.

"Come on, lets take your stuff upstairs," Ginny suggested, shooing Pig off Sorrel's cage before picking it up.

"Is his name really Pig?" Rowan asked Ron as she picked up her broom and trunk. Ron shook his head.

"Ginny started calling him Pigwidgeon, and by the time I tried to change it, he wouldn't listen. I'm not going to call him Pigwidgeon all the time, so it's Pig," he explained, carefully gripping Xena's cage so he didn't rattle it as all four friends made their way up the stairs to Ginny's room, where all the girls would be sleeping. Rowan propped her Firebolt up in the corner by the door, and both girls lay their trunks out next the window where the redhead siblings had set their owls. Ginny's room was fairly small, with one double bed, a set of drawers, and a closet. The walls were painted a shade of maroon, and there were magical posters on the wall of various wizard bands. There was a full-length mirror beside the set of drawers, with Ginny's Gryffindor scarf hanging beside it, along with her pointed hat. Pigwidgeon had followed them up, and was perched on one of the bedposts, twittering away.

"I'll go get some pillows and blankets. One of you can share the bed with me if you want, but the other person and Hermione will be on the floor," Ginny informed them, knocking Ron out of the way so she could find extra things.

"How has your summer been, Ron?" Arianna asked, opening Sorrel's cage so the barn could perch on her arm. Pig flew up and started hooting and flying around Sorrel's head, earning a disgusted look from the barn.

"Pretty boring. Haven't really done much," He said, hands in the pockets of his muggle jeans. He glared at his owl, who was now fluttering around Xena's cage. "Pig has taken most of my time. Get back here you little bugger!" he said, making a grab for the small owl, who zipped out of reach, over the three kids' heads, and out the door that Ginny had just opened to let herself in. Grumbling, Ron followed his owl, trying to catch him before he caused too much destruction.

Arianna and Rowan helped Ginny set up two beds on the floor (one for Rowan, who insisted Arianna be the one to share the bed with Ginny, the other for Hermione who would be arriving shortly), then the girls went down stairs to say goodbye to their mothers.

"Have a great time! Mrs. Weasley wouldn't accept our money, so I want you guys to use some of it to buy everyone food and souvenirs at the match," Marissa told her daughter, handing Rowan a small change purse charmed to hold magical money.

"Will do!" Rowan said with a salute before wrapping her mom in a hug, Arianna planting a kiss on her mom's cheek.

"See you at Christmas!" the short girl told her mother.

The older witches exchanged grins with Mrs. Weasley, before turning back to their kids.

"I expect you two will be staying at Hogwarts for Christmas break, what with all that's going on," Alice said, her eyes twinkling with mischief. Arianna and Rowan sighed in unison. Their mothers had been hinting about something exciting happening at Hogwarts since they got back from Third Year, and they had all but given up on getting more information from them.

With threats to embarrass them at school if they didn't write, the mothers Disapparated, and Mrs. Weasley greeted their daughters properly.

"Are you two hungry?" She asked kindly, smiling at the girls.

"No, thank you though!" Rowan said, her cousin nodding in agreement.

"Where's everyone else? The letter said Charlie and Bill were here too," Arianna asked, taking a quick glance around the room in case she missed them.

"They're out playing two-a-side Quidditch with Fred and George," Mrs. Weasley informed them, noting both the girls' faces lighting up in grins. "Oh, go on then, go join them!"

Arianna waited downstairs helping Ron catch Pig while Ginny and Rowan grabbed their brooms from upstairs. The redhead boy shut his owl in his room, and brought his broom down too.

"This would go a lot faster if you borrowed a-"

"Not a chance," Arianna said to Rowan, glaring at her cousin. The three with brooms were circling over Arianna's head as the strawberry blond walked to the field where the Weasley's always played Quidditch. "If you're in such a hurry, go ahead!" she added with a smirk.

"Like we'd do that," Ron snorted, his broom wobbling a bit through the air. "You're liable to be eaten by a gnome or something!"

"Ha! I'd kick a gnome's butt, just like I'd kick yours," Arianna told Ron, narrowing her eyes at him. They could hear the sounds of the Quidditch match now, shouts and whoops coming from the field.

"Oi! Thick heads! We got company!" Rowan and Arianna could hear an unfamiliar voice yell. The twins flew into sight, diving down until they almost collided with Arianna, who had placed her hands on her wide hips, raising an unimpressed eyebrow at them. Rowan laughed as they struggled to make their landing after pulling that stunt, Fred almost falling on his face, George almost hitting his twin. Or was it the other way around?

Two more people came into sight, hovering between Rowan and Ginny.

"This is Bill," Ginny introduced her oldest brother. He had long red hair, just like everyone in his family, and one earring with a fang dangling from it. He looked like the coolest, most relaxed older brother ever, which somewhat surprised the cousins. They knew Bill worked at Gringotts, and because of that, they expected him to be just as uptight about the rules as Percy was. He smiled at the pair, spinning completely around on his broom. "And Charlie," The second oldest Charlie worked with dragons in Romania. He was stockier than Bill, who was lanky like Ron, and covered in freckles.

"You two must be Arianna and Rowan! We've heard a lot about you," Said Charlie with a grin.

Rowan narrowed her eyes to glare at Ron and Ginny. "All good, I hope?" She said, barely able to keep a straight face. Arianna was suddenly hit from behind, Fred gabbing her shoulders, George her feet.

"We've got the short one! Go, go, go!" They hollered, running with her until they were at the field, Arianna squealing all the way.

"What was that for?" She demanded.

"For being short?" they replied at the same time after thinking about it for a second. Arianna smacked George in the arm, grinning. The twins had been like Rowan and Arianna's older brothers since first year when they stopped people, mostly Slytherins, from picking on Arianna's height, and both of their accents.

Arianna found a log to sit on after the twins had gotten their brooms back, and watched as they fought over who had to sit out the first round (Ron lost). They played enough three-on-three rounds that everyone got to play with everyone else. Everyone had a great time, including Arianna, who enjoyed jokingly heckling them from the sidelines. It was Ron's turn to sit the match out again when Harold, the Weasley's ancient owl, hobbled through the air with a letter telling them it was time to come in for dinner. Arianna was convinced by the twins to let them carry her between them, as long as her toes could almost touch the ground. They made much better time going in then coming out, Rowan and Arianna appreciating the August sunset.

"Mom's made steak and potatoes," Bill said appreciatively, deeply inhaling the evening air. All the cousins could smell was the aroma of grass and honeysuckle; but, as they got closer, they could smell the steak.

"Om nom nom," Rowan said with a giggle, getting weird looks from everyone but Arianna, who explained that it was a muggle thing.

When they arrived, Hermione had just finished setting the tables, which had been moved outside to accommodate the large group.

"When did you get here?" Rowan and Arianna squealed as the wrapped their bushy-haired friend in a hug.

"Ten minutes ago," Hermione said with a grin, flashing her large front teeth.

"Sit down, everyone!" Mrs. Weasley told them, levitating plates full of delicious smelling food onto the table. Mr. Weasley put in an appearance then, greeting the girls with warm hugs and 'how has your summer been?' before taking his seat. Percy was the last one to show up, muttering something about not being able to focus on anything with the racket people were making.

"Hi Percy!" Rowan said brightly. "How's working at the Ministry?" Ron elbowed her in the ribs.

"Don't get him started," The twins chorused, but it was too late.

"It is good, thank you, Rowan. You'd do well to work there eventually. Right now, I'm working on a report on the dangers of thin cauldron bottoms," He said pompously. The cousins listened politely for a while, trying their hardest to not laugh at the faces the twins were making as their brother talked. Finally, Mrs. Weasley told him that the dinner table wasn't really the place for work talk, and Percy stopped talking about the Ministry, and someone named 'Mr. Crouch.'

"We expect him and Mr. Crouch to announce their engagement any day now," George whispered to Arianna and Rowan, the later choking on her potatoes, the former barely containing her laughter.

Sorrel and Xena had been let out of their cages, and were sitting on the kitchen windowsill, watching Pigwidgeon bounce through the air above the counters.

"Ron, I think your owl is going to bust an artery," Rowan observed, slightly concerned for the tiny owl's health; just watching him ping around through the kitchen window was making her nauseous.

"Naw, he's always like that," Ron said through a mouthful of steak and carrots, swallowing it hastily at a look from his mother. Rowan shrugged and turned back to her amazing food.

"You guys ready for the Quidditch World Cup?" Asked Mr. Weasley, wiggling his eyebrows. Everyone but Percy, who wasn't the excitable type, shouted that they were. "Harry will be arriving on Sunday, and we'll be taking an early morning Portkey from Stoatshead Hill," He informed everyone.

"Portkey, as in an-object-that-magically-transports-people-to-other-places Portkey?" Rowan asked, waving her fork around, getting eyerolls from Hermione and Arianna.

"No, Rowan. Portkey as in an-object-that-turns-anything-into-a-horse-on-command Portkey," said Ron, smirking at the blushing girl.

"Just asking," She muttered, before brightening. "We're getting you guys food while we're there, by the way. Mother and Aunty Alice's orders," She informed them.

There was a loud bang from upstairs, cutting off whatever Mrs. Weasley was going to say. Both of the twins' eyes seemed to almost pop out as they dropped their forks and booked it inside to the stairs as if someone had lit the seat of their pants on fire.

"What in the name of Merlin was that? It had better have nothing to do with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes!" Hollered Mrs. Weasley, running after her sons. Ron, Bill, and Charlie stifled laughter, Ginny grinned, Mr. Weasley was shaking his head, and Percy looked extremely horrified.

"Weasley's Wizard what's?" Asked Rowan and Arianna, both very confused.

"They want to open a wizarding joke shop. They've been making things, toffees that make your tongue huge, things like that, in their room all summer," Ginny explained. "Mom doesn't like it, especially because they didn't get that many O. last year," She finished, taking Rowan and Arianna's plates.

"There's been explosions coming from their room all summer," Sniffed Percy. "It's been very distracting."

"Well, I think it's brilliant," Said Ron. Before the Weasley kids could get into a debate about how smart it was to open a wizarding joke shop, Mrs. Weasley came back outside, muttering darkly, effectively ending the conversation.

After helping to clean the dishes, all four girls went outside to enjoy the warm evening air, chuckling at Crookshanks, who was delightedly chasing gnomes in the garden. It was the cousin's favorite part about school; the friends they made, and how close they were now. Laughing about something that happened in first year, sharing stories about their summers, and just being comfortable in each other's company.

~DAY OF THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP – EARLY MORNING~

"Come on Harry! Wake up!" Hermione whisper-shouted, shaking his arm.

"You're too nice, Hermione," Rowan said with a smirk. "You gotta do this…" She opened Pigwidgeon's cage, and caught the bouncing owl, and stuck him between Ron and his blankets. The redhead awoke with a start when his owl began bouncing around under the covers, hitting him repeatedly in the legs and arms. Hermione and Rowan had made their escape, stepping over the half awake twins, dodging the pillow Ron threw at them, and joined Arianna and Ginny in the kitchen, giggling madly.

"Alright. What did you do?" Arianna asked with a huge yawn, reaching for her glass of pumpkin juice. Rowan blinked innocently at her cousin, grabbing a piece of toast as she sat down at the table.

"Why would you suspect me of doing something underhanded, dear cousin?" Arianna could practically see the horns growing under Rowan's still messy hair.

"OI! What did I ever do to you?" Ron demanded, coming down the stairs with Harry and the twins, all blinking sleepily. "That was down-right cruel," Ron said.

"I might possibly have stuck Pig under his blankets," Rowan informed her confused looking cousin. The twins grinned at Rowan and gave her double thumbs up before flopping down at the table.  
>"Well played," Said George sleepily.<p>

Harry had arrived the previous night, most of the Weasley children accompanying their father to get him from the Dursleys, both Arianna and Rowan having lost a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors with the twins. When the twins told them of how they'd left a Ton-Tongue toffee on the floor for Dudley to eat, they had struggled to hold their laughter in check. They were happy to hear that he was finally getting a taste of his own medicine for what he'd done to Harry over the years, and were just as gleeful as the twins when Harry made it through the fire and confirmed that his large cousin had, indeed, eaten the toffee. Hermione was torn between amusement and fear at breaking the rules, but had to grin at the mental image Harry conjured. Bill and Charlie set the tables up outside again, so there would be enough room for everyone; Percy got quite mad when they proceeded to have a war with said tables. They had gone to bed with full stomachs, and high hopes that tomorrow would be one of the best day of their lives.

Mr. Weasley was sitting at the table, the tickets in front of him, and stood up when the boys entered. He had abandoned his usual tattered wizard robes in favour of a golfing shirt, and extremely large jeans held up by a wide leather belt. "What d'you think? We're supposed to go incognito – do I look like a muggle?" he asked, directing his question to Arianna, Rowan, Hermione and Harry.

"Yeah, very good," Harry said with a smile, everyone echoing his sentiments.

"Where're Bill and Charlie and Per – Per – Percy?" asked George, yawning halfway through.

"Well, they're Apparating, aren't they?" said Mrs. Weasley, hauling the pot she had been stirring to the table so she could fill their bowls with porridge. "So they can have a bit of a lie-in."

Arianna made an impressed noise. Apparating was fairly difficult, and not all wizards chose to learn how. There was a test you had to pass and everything. She had read somewhere that splinching was fairly common, and wasn't looking forward to taking her test somewhere down the line.

"So they're still in bed?" Fred asked grumpily, pulling his porridge bowl towards him. "Why can't we Apparate, too?"

"Because you are neither of-age, nor have taken the test," Mrs. Weasley snapped, still in a huff about the Ton-Tongue-Toffee-meets-Dudley thing.

"You have to pass a test to Apparate?" Harry asked around a mouthful of porridge.

Mr. Weasley nodded, putting the tickets in his back pocket. "Oh yes. The Department of Magical Transportation had to fine a couple of people the other day for Apparating without a license. It's not easy, Apparation, and when it's not done properly it can lead to nasty complications. This pair I'm talking about went and splinched themselves." Everyone but Harry winced, and Mr. Weasley went on to explain that splinching is when you Apparate and leave parts of yourselves behind.

"Were they okay?" Harry asked, looking quite concerned.

"Oh yes, but they got a heavy fine, and I don't think they'll be trying it again in a hurry. You don't mess around with Apparation. There are plenty of adult wizards who don't bother with it. Prefer brooms – slower, but safer."

Fred yawned. "Why do we have to be up so bloody early?" He got a death glare from his mom for his use of 'bloody,' but ignored it.

"It's a bit of a walk," Mr. Weasley told everyone.

"Walk? What, are we walking to the World Cup?" Harry asked, alarmed. Arianna and Rowan giggled, knowing how far away the Cup was to take place. With their Auror work, Alice and Marissa hadn't even heard that the Ministry had tickets until they were all gone, and the girls had been extremely disappointed, making their moms tell them everything and anything they heard about the World Cup Finals.

"No, no, that's miles away," Mr. Weasley assured with a smile "We only need to walk a short way. It's just difficult for a large number of wizards to congregate without attracting Muggle attention. We have to be very careful about how we travel at the best of times, and on a huge occasion like the Quidditch World Cup-"

"George!" Mr. Weasley's explanation was interrupted when his wife noticed several large bulges in the twins' pockets.

"What?" asked George in his best innocent tone. No one bought it.

"What is that in your pocket?"

"Nothing!"

"Don't you lie to me!" Mrs. Weasley got out her wand and pointed it at his pocket. "_Accio_!"

About six brightly coloured blobs raced from George's pocket and into Mrs. Weasley's outstretched hand, George's attempts at stopping them failing miserably. Everyone sat in silence as Mrs. Weasley wigged out at the twins, the Ton-Tongue Toffees flying thickly through the air. It took about five minutes for Mrs. Weasley to be sure she'd gotten them all, and five more minutes to yell at Fred and George about their O. and applying their time properly, before they had to go. It wasn't a nice atmosphere, both the twins and Mrs. Weasley glowering sourly as everyone grabbed their bags and left with Mr. Weasley. Everyone but the twins turned and waved at Mrs. Weasley as they left, heading out across the yard.

The sun was barely a pale green glow on the eastern horizon, and everyone looked like zombies as they walked to Stoatshead hill. Harry hurried to catch up to Mr. Weasley so he could ask questions about the Cup, Rowan and Ron talking semi-animatedly about Quidditch, and Ginny, Arianna and Hermione staying fairly quiet in the back. The twins were glowering at their feet, like their shoes were responsible for their mother taking all the Ton-Tongue Toffees they had worked so hard on.

"Who do you think's gonna win?" Rowan asked, throwing the question over her shoulder to her female friends as well as Ron.

"It's gotta be Ireland," Fred said, finally perking up a bit at the mention of the Cup, George nodding in agreement.

"But the Bulgarians have Krum!" Exclaimed Ron.

"We're not talking about your man-crush, Ron," Sighed George. Before Ron could retaliate, Mr. Weasley was rushing everyone up Stoatshead Hill.

"Well, we've made good time – we've got ten minutes," Panted a very out-of-breath Mr. Weasley. Hermione was the last one to make it up the hill, clutching a stitch in her side.

"Some hill, eh?" said Arianna, getting a nods from everyone. From the other side of the hill, two figures appeared, one older, the other some one who looked vaguely familiar.

"Amos Diggory!" Shouted Mr. Weasley, smiling at the older wizard.

"Arthur!" Amos, and who Arianna and Rowan presumed was his son, walked over, the son quite a bit taller than his father. As they got closer, the cousins knew they definitely knew the boy from Hogwarts, but he wasn't in their year.

"This must be Cedric!" Mr. Weasley said, getting a nod from Mr. Diggory. That's when it clicked with the best friends; Cedric was the Hufflepuff seeker. He had beaten Gryffindor at Quidditch last year, something the twins and most of the Gryffindor team hadn't forgiven him for. Mr. Weasley introduced everyone for 's benefit. He made a big fuss over Harry, but was rather rude about the fact that Cedric had beaten the Gryffindor last year. Cedric seemed embarrassed by his father, so Rowan and Arianna decided to not hold it against the young wizard. Mr. Weasley did a wonderful job of distracting Mr. Diggory from further embarrassing Harry, and everyone was soon searching for the Portkey.

"Hey! How was your guys' summer?" Cedric asked Arianna and Rowan, searching with them. Both girls recognized that Cedric was extremely good-looking, but neither was into him, as they knew that Cho Chang had expressed interest. Cedric, however, seemed un-aware of the unspoken female law that forbade a girl to move in on another girl's turf, and winked at Rowan. She rolled her eyes.

"Fine, nothing too exciting, you?" She turned to Arianna and made a face, the shorter girl stifling her laughter.

"Mostly played Quidditch, and worked out a lot," Cedric said, making a show of flexing his muscles. Arianna made a snorting sound as she tried to choke back her giggles, and noted the raised eyebrows on the twins' faces as they watched Cedric preen for the two girls. Rowan giggled girlishly and pretended to be impressed, all the while wondering how long she was going to have to suffer this ridiculous show. Luckily for her and Arianna, Mr. Weasley and Mr. Diggory found the Portkey – a musty old boot.

Everyone gathered around the Portkey, Arianna somehow ending up between Cedric and Rowan. They made an odd sight – nine kids, two adults huddled around, holding a ratty old boot in the middle of a hill. Arianna giggled, getting a weird look from Cedric, but then Mr. Weasley started counting down.

"Three…" Arianna didn't know how it would feel to use a Portkey, because she had only traveled by either Apparating with her mother, or by the Floo network. "Two…" Now she was worried. What if it hurt? Could you splinch using a Portkey? "One.." Then she didn't have any time to worry about splinching, because there was suddenly a hook behind her belly button, pulling her and her friends forward. Her shoulders banged with Rowan's and Cedric's, then, suddenly her feet were on the ground, and Rowan was crashing onto her, followed by the twins.

"Now I know how you felt First year, on the train," She muttered in Rowan's ear, which was right by her nose.

"Of course you do," Rowan said with a groan. "GET OFF OF ME AND ARIANNA YA BOSOS!" She hollered at the twins in true Rowan fashion.

"Maybe we're comfortable," Fred said, but he was groaning in pain, George's elbow digging into his stomach.

"I will injure you," Rowan said matter-of-factly, finally convincing the twins to move. Arianna noticed that Hermione, Ron, Harry and Ginny had been caught in a similar pile, and only Cedric, Mr. Diggory, and Mr. Weasley were still left standing. They had crashed into what appeared to be a club, or at least that's what Rowan guessed, based on all the fog.

"Seven past five from Stoatshead Hill," Someone said. Arianna looked around, and saw that they were on what looked like a deserted moor.

The old boot, which had crashed to the ground by Harry's head, was snatched up by one of two wizards, both dressed, badly, in muggle clothes, and had grumpy looks on their faces. One of the wizards, the one who called out, wore a business suit with thigh-high rubber boots; the other sported a kilt and a poncho. They directed each of the families to their separate campgrounds, the Weasley's to the first field they would come to, campsite one, the Diggorys to campsite two. The two groups said good-bye, Harry, Ron, and Hermione coming to walk with Rowan and Arianna.

"Was Cedric Diggory really hitting on you?" Ron wanted to know, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

"Well, more her than me," Arianna said with a grin at her cousin. Hermione was giggling at Rowans pained expression.

They found their campsite no problem, and set up the magical tents Mr. Weasley had borrowed from Mr. Perkins. The only hiccup was when they first got to the entrance of campsite one, and Mr. Rogers had to have his memory modified, but that wasn't that big of a deal. They knew that muggles' memories had to be modified all the time, especially at huge events like the Quidditch World Cup. Arianna and Rowan had only been in a magical tent once before, and it was much less impressive than the two Mr. Weasley had gotten. The girls had been camping with their fathers many times, and only once did their mothers come along, insisting they dig out and dust off the two grimy magic tents they had gotten in their fathers' passing.

After shutting Harry's mouth, Arianna dragged Rowan to their tent, Hermione and Ginny following. Arianna called a bottom bunk and threw her bag onto it. Once they had sorted out who got which bed, they went outside to find Mr. Weasley struggling with the fire. They looked around at the myriad of magical tents stretching around them in the newly risen sunlight, quite impressed. Arianna helped Mr. Weasley with the fire, and it was quickly up and running. Somewhere in the middle of being introduced to many of the wizards Mr. Weasley knew from work, Bill, Charlie, and Percy showed up. Ludo Bagman, who seemed nice enough, if a bit lightheaded, spent a bit of time with them, and was the wizard in charge of running the Cup. The twins bet all their money that Ireland would win, but Krum would get the snitch, much to Mr. Weasley's displeasure.

When it was starting to get dark, the air of anticipation that had been slowly filling the camp seemed to peak, and the vendors started appearing, Apparating every couple feet. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Arianna, and Rowan went to buy some souvenirs, the twins looking fairly dejected because they had no money. Arianna and Rowan had a quick word with Harry, and they pooled some money together to buy the twins something.

"Look at these!" Arianna giggled, pointing at a vendor selling mini replicas of each of the players from both teams. Ron bought a Viktor Krum one, and Rowan got one of Troy, her favorite Chaser. Krum was her idol, but she didn't want to get the same thing as Ron, so she got Troy. She did, however, find a large moving poster of Krum, and got that, wondering if she'd get a chance to meet him and have him sign it. They moved on to the next booth, which had hats and scarves for both teams. Arianna got Irish hats and scarves for the twins, as well as herself and Rowan. Harry insisted on buying everyone things called Omnioculars that looked like regular muggle binoculars on steroids, with buttons and twisty knobs sprouting all over the place. Everyone also got Irish rosettes that squawked the players' names, and pinned them to their shirts.

"Here you go," Arianna told the twins, dumping the hats, scarves, and rosettes on their laps.

They sat there for a second, theirs mouths open in shock, and started to protest, the complaints layering over themselves until no on could tell what they were saying.

"Non-refundable. Just take them," Harry told the twins, handing them the Omnioculars. With huge grins, and a lot of 'thank you's, the group heard a loud gong from deep in the forest, and lanterns burst into flame, lighting the path to the pitch.

"It's time!" Said Mr. Weasley, just as excited as the kids. "Come on, let's go!"

They made their way down the path, the twins putting on their rosettes, hats, and scarves as they went. There were a lot of people walking down the path now, and the girls had to move closer to Harry and Ron so they didn't get separated.

They got to the pitch, a fabulous golden structure that was lit up so it seemed to be glowing. Rowan whistled appreciatively, then they started climbing.

"How far up are we?" George asked after ten minutes of going up staircase after staircase.

"Lets put it this way. If it rains, you'll be the first to know," said a slippery voice. Mr. Malfoy was standing just below the Weasley's and their group, Draco and Blaise were with him as well.

"Father, Blaise and I are in the Minister's box, by personal invitation of Corneleus Fudge himself," Draco said pompously, glancing at Rowan. Arianna, Rowan, Ron and Hermione rolled their eyes, Harry glaring at the platinum blond boy. _He's so ridiculous_ Rowan thought, smirking at Draco.

"Don't boast Draco," Mr. Malfoy said, hitting Draco in the stomach with the butt of his walking stick, making Blaise grin. "there's no need of it with these people," he finished haughtily, sneering at Mr. Weasley. Rowan flushed with anger, and clenched her fists in indignation at the way he was talking down to her friends' father, and was about to say something when Arianna leaned in to her.

"He's not worth it, Rowan. Let it go. Karma is going to get him big time," Arianna informed her cousin in a whisper, raising one eyebrow. Rowan ginned at that, and her anger lessened.

As they turned their attention back to the purebloods, they noticed Blaise whispering in Draco's ear, gesturing with his head to the two cousins. Draco cast a pointed glance at his father, and Blaise's shoulders slumped, but he nodded in agreement. Harry was pulling them all away to continue their upward climb to their seats, when Mr. Malfoy caught Harry's shoe with his walking stick.

"Do enjoy yourself won't you… while you can," The long haired blond smirked before letting Harry's foot go. All the way up, Ron was muttering about 'stupid Malfoys' getting nods of agreement from the twins and almost everyone else. They reached their seats at the top, and got settled, Ron finally letting their encounter with Draco go. They fiddled with their Omnioculars until the game was about twenty minutes from starting.

"Alrighty. What do you guys ant to eat?" Rowan asked, looking expectantly around at the Weasley's. She and Arianna deflected their complaints, and managed to collect their orders. As they headed back down a few levels to where they had seen a food vendor, they heard Ron comment on how he could replay the guy across from them picking his nose over and over in his Omnioculars.

"What're you getting?" Rowan asked Arianna as they hopped down the stairs.

"I'm thinking pumpkin juice and some popcorn and chicken legs," Arianna told her cousin, hopping off the last step by the food booth.

Rowan was about to tell her cousin that she wanted steak and potatoes, when she noticed who was ahead of them in the line, and gestured to them with her head; it was Draco and Blaise.  
>Arianna raised one eyebrow as if to say 'so what?' and the girls took their place behind them in line, and were going over who ordered what when Blaise turned around.<p>

"Hey," Blaise said with a grin, making Arianna's heart stutter. She had never been able to bring herself to dislike Blaise as she should, seeing as he was the best friend of her best friends' mortal enemy. Both Blaise and Draco had never singled-out and picked on Rowan or Arianna the way they did the rest of their friends, and the girls chalked it up to that early meeting first year. They had, however, always called the girls by their last names, and sneered a lot when other Slytherins were watching. The girls never called anyone by their last names, as their parents had taught them to save that for people they truly hated, excluding professors, and as they didn't particularly hate either boy, they decided that first names were in order. Lately though, towards the end of third year and now, Arianna couldn't deny the way she felt butterflies in her stomach whenever she by chance met Blaise's chocolate-coloured eyes.

"Hi," Rowan said, noting Arianna's apparent inability to speak. Draco glanced over his shoulder.

"Oh, hi," He said coolly, turning to face them.

Rowan felt a fluttering in her stomach when the tall blond looked at her, and tried to sort out her emotions. She knew that she shouldn't feel anything but hate towards the boy in front of her, after all, he made a point of torturing her best friends and being a general prick, but still… Her heart seemed to have other ideas. She supposed that neither boy had been too bad to her or her cousin, but some of the things they had done and said to her friends were unforgivable, her head reasoned, only to be shut down by the fluttering of her heart.

"You having fun in the nosebleeds?" Blaise asked, raising an eyebrow sarcastically.

"We don't need good seats to entertain us, we have friends," Arianna said coldly, whatever emotion she had been feeling before squashed by Blaise's clear insult.

"Oh please, you two are easier to get along with than those muggle-lovers, and you're half bloods," Draco snorted, earning a glare from Rowan.

"At least they're not stuck up snobs, like some people I can think of," The dark haired girl snarled at him, before pointedly turning to Arianna and starting to talk about the upcoming match.

After a few minutes, the line was still waiting, some couple arguing with the cashier. Blaise broke into the girls' conversation about the various merits each team had.

"Umm, I can see you two are cheering for Ireland." He was met with indifferent looks from the girls, the rosettes pinned to their shirts chanting the names of the Irish players breaking their silence, before they turned back to their discussion.

"We are cheering for Bulgaria. Krum could wipe the floor with the whole Irish team," Draco said with a superior tone.

"Is that so?" Rowan asked, raising an eyebrow. Her level of hero worship for Krum didn't extend that far. Draco and Blaise nodded, looking pleased at getting a response from the girl. The rosettes on the girls' shirts started to chant louder, seeming offended at the boys' words.

Not wanting to get into a debate, Arianna changed the subject. "How crazy do you think the parties are going to get tonight?"

Both the Slytherins' faces seemed to fall before their usual condescending expressions slammed back into place.

"Are you two spending the night?" Draco asked, and the girls noticed a muscle in his jaw twitch when they nodded.

"You should go home once the game is done," Blaise said, a half-hearted sneer creeping over his expression.

"Why…?" Rowan asked, genuinely confused.

"I'll make you two a bet," Blaise said, glancing at Rowan before his eyes fell back on Arianna.

The two girls shrugged.

"If Bulgaria wins, then you two go home, or wherever you're staying," Blaise said, looking extremely pleased with himself. Arianna looked at him skeptically.

"That's a very one-sided bet," She told him with a smirk.

"Oh," Blaise didn't know what to say, but Draco came to his rescue.

"If Ireland wins, I'll help Rowan with her potions," Potions was Rowan's least favorite subject, and she had been in danger of failing it multiple times. No matter how hard Arianna and Hermione tried to re-teach her the material Snape hadn't explained right, she just couldn't get it. Maybe having a Slytherin tutor her would help. "And Blaise will help Arianna with… well, Arianna's good at everything…" Draco finished, frowning at the short strawberry blond, who was giggling at his expression.

"Blaise'll do my laundry," Arianna grinned, giving Rowan a high five, resolving to put her underwear in Rowan's laundry pile should she win the bet. Blaise was gaping at her like she had sprouted a beard and started calling herself Dumbledore, but he finally agreed, when the girls assured him that they'd keep up their end of the bargain if Bulgaria won.

They got the food, all boxed up and in three big bags, and headed back to the stands.

"You're not going to make him do your laundry if Ireland wins, are you?" Rowan asked her cousin, Arianna pondering as they walked up the steps, the noise of the crowd making it so they could barely hear each other.

"I will for the first month or so, then I'll do it myself," She said with a grin.

"Softy," Rowan told her, before they got to their seats and started passing out the food.

The game was exciting, even though they had to restrain Harry, Ron, and the twins from jumping off their seats to impress the Veela. The Omnioculars helped a lot, even though they had to explain to Harry that he couldn't leave it on slow-mo for the whole game. The food was great, the company was amusing, and the game was amazing. The Wronski Feint was Rowan's favorite part, even though Aidan Lynch, the Irish Seeker, got hurt. Krum really was the most amazing Quidditch player ever.

They were extremely happy when Krum caught the snitch, but Ireland still won by ten points. The twins gleefully ran off to collect their money from Ludo Bagman as the rest of the group made their way back to the tents.

"Blaise's got to do your laundry now?" Ron asked, wanting to clarify, seeming extremely happy to hear that Draco's best friend was being made to suffer. He was trying to convince Rowan to make her Tutoring with Draco the most painful thing the blond had ever undergone, but was getting nowhere.

"Yup," Arianna ginned.

"You two," Hermione sighed, shaking her head. Harry was grinning widely, still reveling in the post-Quidditch glow.

They stayed up well into the night, celebrating, until Ginny fell asleep and spilled her drink on the floor. They were sent off to bed.

"Oh, This year is going to be so much fun!" Rowan proclaimed, pulling on her Elmo short-shorts and white tank top.

"I can't wait to see when our classes are. I hope we don't have potions first thing," Hermione fretted, heading to the sink in her stripped pink PJ bottoms with a shirt sporting a smiling tooth proclaiming 'Brush twice a day!' to get a glass of water. Rowan rolled her eyes at Ginny, who was already under the covers in her top bunk, half asleep. Arianna appeared from the bathroom then, wrapping a towel more securely around her freshly washed hair.

"Camping in a tent with a shower! Unc Darren 'n' dad wouldn't be happy," Arianna said with a grin at Rowan, both girls knowing how 'back-to-the-basics' their fathers were about camping.

"Ha, you two match!" Hermione observed, noting Arianna's Cookie Monster short-shorts with grey tank top.

"We made them in July," Arianna explained, poking the bright blue monster on her leg. The girls clambered into their various bunks, and talked for a few minutes, until Ginny started snoring and they realized how early they'd have to get up tomorrow.

Rowan went to sleep thinking about Quidditch, and Krum, but somehow her dreams turned to stormy grey eyes and platinum blond hair.

**A/N: Please review! Hope you liked it!**


	4. Fire and Fights

Rowan, Hermione, Ginny, and Arianna were woken up what seemed like moments after they had fallen asleep by the combined efforts of Mr. Weasley and screams from outside. Hermione blinked sleepily, rubbing her eyes as she sat up, Ginny just groaned and rolled over.

"Huh, whosamuwhuhdayawan?" Arianna mumbled, swinging her legs off the edge of her bunk, only to be hit in the face by Rowan's feet when her cousin swung her own legs over the edge of the top bunk. "Git yur godam smelly feet outta my face," Arianna slurred, smacking the offending feet away.

"GIRLS!" Mr. Weasley yelled, getting their attention through their sleep-fogged minds. "We need to go! Leave your stuff, grab your wands, and get out!" He ordered, holding the tent flap open as they pulled on their runners and exited the tent.

Outside, as the chilly air of late August hit them, they woke up, and fully registered the screams and explosions coming from around them. It was bedlam, little fires springing up everywhere, people running for their lives, and they caught sight of a group of hooded and masked figures with their wands pointed up at the twisting and contorting forms of four muggles the cousins recognized as Mr. Roberts and what must be his wife and kids. Harry, Ron, and the rest of the boys had appeared out of their tent, and were gaping much like the girls were.

"We're going to help the Ministry!" Mr. Weasley shouted over the din, drawing their attention to himself, Bill, Charlie and Percy who all had their wands out. "You lot – get to the woods, and stick together! I'll come fetch you when we've sorted this out!" Mr. Weasley charged after his oldest sons, who had torn off towards the cloaked figures.

The flow of people seemed determined to tear everyone apart, and Rowan and Arianna gripped each others' hands tightly, doing their best to keep up with the rest. There was an explosion as a tent burst into flames, and the pair was cut off from the rest. They were coughing violently from the smoke when they were barrelled over by a panicked wizard, and when they righted themselves; the others were out of sight. The panicking crowd didn't care about two teenage girls lost in the madness.

At one point, while they were running, a hooded figure, who must have been a death-eater, like their mothers had told them about, sprang out from behind a smouldering tent. Arianna and Rowan let out a yelp of surprise, and the death-eater let loose a spurt of fire from his wand. Arianna instinctively threw Rowan and herself out from in front of the fire. As the warmth of the fire was felt to their left, they saw a tent explode. Debris went flying like shrapnel in all directions. Arianna and Rowan ducked, the wood mostly missing the girls. However Arianna received a fairly deep slice on her cheek and a gash on her lower calf. Rowan received a cut on her shoulder as well as four mid-sized toothpick slivers embedded over her collarbone. As soon as the fire stopped shooting from the death-eaters wand, the two girls pulled themselves to their feet, and sprinted away from the dark garbed person as fast as they could, hot air and smoke wheezing up and down their throats. It took a while, but eventually, they got to the edge of the forest where Harry, Ron, and Hermione had been heading.

"Glad we finally made it out of that," Rowan panted, putting a hand out to a tree trunk to steady herself now that there weren't as many jostling people around. The forest had an air of calm, sort of like the eye of a hurricane; there weren't that many people within the outer edge of trees. Arianna put her hands on her knees, trying to recover her breath.

"No… kidding…" She agreed. Both the girls felt like their lungs were full of sparks from the fires they had run past, each breath burning up and down their oesophagus' until they caught their breath again.

"We told you two you should've gotten out!" Came the familiar, sneering voice of a certain blond. Draco and Blaise had been standing by a nearby tree, but were now making their way towards the girls.

"Yes, you did, Draco, Blaise. What might you two have known about this that we didn't?" Rowan asked, straightening to face the two boys. She felt her resolve turn to steel; she was going to find out what these two knew. Seeing the proverbial curtains falling behind her eyes, Draco looked taken aback. He stuttered but said nothing.

"What. Do. You. Know. Draco?" Rowan growled, pronouncing each word slowly, a sneer rising on her lips, her wand clenched in her right hand. She hadn't realized it when she was running, but both she and Arianna had been clutching their wands tightly the whole time.

"I don't know what you're talking about. We – we just, we umm…" he trailed off, trying to find the words.

"We thought the Irish parties would be too much for a couple of Gryffindor's," Blaise said a little too quickly, with less mocking than usual, more fear. "You guys aren't as tough as you think."

"Oh really Blaise, that sounds so believable," Arianna said raising her voice and crossing her arms over her chest, a look of disbelief on her face. She had tucked her wand into the waistband of her shorts. There was an explosion from behind them, lighting her and her cousin from behind in a fiery orange glow that made them look momentarily like some sort of avenging war goddesses.

"Look, we don't have to tell you anything." Draco spat standing a little taller almost as to intimidate the two girls, his eyes locked in a fierce glaring match with Rowan.

He loomed over her, and as much as Rowan hated to admit it, it was sort of scary, the already tall blond looming over her, but at the same time her heart was beating faster in her chest and her stomach felt tight. She, however, didn't yield and remained where she was, a glare on her face and her eyes unblinking, and stuck on Draco's grey depths.

"He's right, we don't need to say anything to you," Blaise said stepping closer to Arianna. She glared back but on the inside she was shaking. She didn't understand why he was so close to her. As he prowled closer Arianna had two completely separate and contrasting urges. The first and most powerful was to give him a kick to the shins and tell him to back off, however the second urge to close the distance kept her in her place.

Blaise took the last possible step towards Arianna and his angry expression seemed to vanish when he saw a streak of blood on her cheek from the cut she had gotten from the exploding tent. Arianna shook visibly when he raised him hand and examined the wound gently. She didn't know how to react so she just stood there silently, unconsciously leaning into his hand.

Rowan stared up at Draco and watched as his glare slowly slid from his face and a neutral express took over. He stepped closer and a frown broke through, squishing his blond eyebrows together. However the frown didn't seem to be directed towards her, more like he was having an inner conflict with himself. She was slowly losing the will to stay mad at him.

Arianna shivered finally realizing that she and Rowan were still dressed in their Elmo, and Cookie Monster short-short and tank top pajamas.

"You must be freezing," Blaise exclaimed obviously seeing her shiver. He unzipped his hoodie and threw it over her shoulders. Draco, seeing Rowan hugging herself for warmth quickly un-buttoned his black jacket and forcefully pulled it around her shivering form.

"Um, thanks?" They said awkwardly, struggling to remember why they were mad.

"You're bleeding," Draco informed Rowan, noting the injury just above her collarbone. Rowan looked down, and seeing the toothpick sized chunks of wood, started to freak out. The idea of broken blood vessels and slivers always gave her the creeps.

"GET IT OUT GET IT OUT GET IT OUT!" She yelled, placing her face on the nearest available surface, Draco's shoulder, so she didn't have to look at the shards of wood. Draco looked confused, then hesitatingly tried to comfort her by putting his hand on her back, rubbing circles with his fingers. He then used his free hand and removed the toothpick-sized splinters from over her collarbone. As each one was removed, she winced, the hand that wasn't holding Draco's jacket up gripping his shirt, causing him to pull her closer.

"Wuss," Arianna smirked, putting her arms through the sleeves and zipping up Blaise's hoodie as her cousin pulled away from Draco, examining her shoulder. Rowan stuck her tongue out at her cousin.

"Thanks," she said smiling up at Draco sheepishly. That was when the sound of an explosion from behind the girls met their ears and she remembered why she had been angry. "Now, where were we?" Rowan asked, turning back to Draco, narrowing her eyes. "Oh right, I was mad at you!" She told him, seeing Blaise zipping his hoodie tighter around Arianna's small form from the corner of her eye. The hoodie dwarfed her cousin, the sleeves hanging almost to her knees, the jacket itself just past her knees.

Draco's eyes widened, and he took a step back. Now that she was back on topic, Rowan went on the offence, and took a step forward, a sudden gust of wind blowing her hair forward giving her a menacing look. She kept backing him up until his back hit a tree, shoving an accusing finger at his chest.

Before he could say anything though, they heard a scream from behind them, the girls spinning to face the sound. Through the thin tree cover, they spotted a small boy of about seven holding a little girl's hand, screaming for help. On instinct, both girls ran off towards the two children, the boys following behind them, muttering darkly about the insanity of females.

Arianna dropped to the little girl's level, checking to see if she was okay, Rowan doing the same for the boy. Only half the children's tent was ablaze at that point, but it was spreading quickly. The heat on Arianna's skin didn't feel too hot, it felt nice, actually, which was disturbing since someone was trapped in there.

"Mommy's in there! Mommy!" The boy shouted, pointing at the burning tent just to the right of the girls. Arianna gently pushed the kids towards Draco and Blaise.

"Don't worry, we'll help your Mommy," Arianna assured them, before raising her eyes to Draco and Blaise. "Get them to safety, we're going in to find the mother," She told them. Blaise's and Draco's eyes widened in some mixture of shock and fear.

She and Rowan spun towards the fire, and had taken the first step towards it when Draco grabbed Rowan's wrist, and Blaise wrapped restraining hands around Arianna's waist.

"Are you insane?" Draco and Blaise exclaimed at the same time, shouting to be heard over the clamour of destruction going on around them.

Rowan was thrashing in his grip, which resulted in him pulling her back to his chest and wrapping his arms around her body, restraining her. She struggled some more, and then she went slack.

"I'm sorry Draco," she muttered. Draco made the mistake of thinking that he had won the battle. He loosened his death grip on her and as soon as it was loosened enough, she threw her hands back and pushed off his stomach. He lunged forward reaching for her but it was too late, she was already running.

Arianna spun in Blaise's grip until she was facing him, almost looking straight up to meet his gaze, his chocolate brown eyes pleading. "Someone is going to die. Are you going to sit around and let that happen?" She asked, pounding on his chest, before softening her tone, and letting her hands rest of his chest. "Please, Blaise. I can't just stand by and watch someone get hurt," She begged, leaning back against his grip, trying to go help the woman trapped in the fiery tent. Blaise took too long to decide, and Rowan had already broken Draco's hold and plunged into the half of the tent that wasn't on fire. With a noise of impatience, Arianna brought her leg back and kicked Blaise in the shin with all her might, springing away from the dark haired boy as he let go, doubled over in pain, and sprinted after her cousin, shouts from the two boys echoing behind them.

"Over here, Arianna!" Rowan coughed, the smoke from the fire hurting her lungs. The two children's mother was unconscious on the floor, a frying pan that had obviously fallen from a rack on top of the nearby cupboards on the ground by her head. Rowan grabbed her by the armpits, and Arianna took her by the ankles, and with minimal difficulty, they removed her from the burning tent before the flames spread much farther.

Draco and Blaise had taken the kids to the forest, and were running back to the girls. They hoisted the older witch up, relieving the girls who were coughing from them smoke they had inhaled. They all started running back together. There were still people running everywhere, and screams rang through the cold night air, gusts of wind fanning the flames from the tents higher and higher.

They were almost back to the forest when the girls caught sight of a dark haired boy about their age making his way through the crowd, jumping over burning objects and trying to stay out of the death-eaters sight.

"Harry!" both girls exclaimed, changing direction to follow their friend. They heard shouts from the boys behind them, but kept running after the dark haired boy. They had almost made it to him, when he glanced behind him, and they saw that it wasn't Harry. He had no glasses and he looked nothing like their scar-faced friend from the front. Arianna, still determined to help, ran up to him and reached up and grabbed his shoulder, dragging his head closer to her level so he could hear.

"OVER THERE IN THE FORSET, YOU'LL BE SAFE THERE!" She yelled over the chaotic din. He looked like he was going to keep running, but then spun on his heels and ran in the direction she had pointed to, where Draco and Blaise were hidden behind the trees.

Arianna turned to Rowan and noticed she wasn't moving. She was just standing there looking on the fiery canvas that had once been the Quidditch World Cup with teary eyes.

"Come on Row," Arianna said gently as she pulled her by her hand away from the blazing tents. Most of the crowds seemed to have disappeared, the boys had made it into the forest with the older witch, and no one else nearby was visible. It was just burning tents fanned by the wind, and churned up muck where there had once been soft grass. Arianna and Rowan slowed to a jog, trying to take in it all. They were about half way to the forest when they heard heavy footsteps behind them and as they turned, they spotted a group of death-eaters headed in their direction. Arianna and Rowan quickly dove behind a tent that wasn't yet on fire and pressed their backs to the rough fabric, their skin kept from being covered in soot by the oversized jackets they still wore.

The girls sat in complete silence, barely even breathing as the Death-Eaters arrived in the circle of tents.

"Can't we go find some mudbloods? I want to have some fun," A rough voice snarled. The girls' hearts almost stopped when they heard the sadistic tone he was using. Never before had they heard anyone talk like that, and a shiver of fear ran through both girls, knowing that if they were found, they were as good as dead, even with their wands now clenched in their hands.

"Greyback, stay on task. We are here to cause fear; the other death-eaters are taking care of the mudbloods." Said a new voice, one slightly less rough than the first, but there was still a sadistic edge to it. He paused, and it got relatively quiet; the screams were becoming fewer and much quieter as the terrified crowds finished their hastened evacuation from the camp. "Why don't you just burn down these tents and stop whining you git," The voice insulted Greyback. Greyback, who the girls pictured as a huge, scarred man, just laughed menacingly and the tent to the girls left exploded into fire and hundreds of little pieces. Rowan and Arianna threw themselves to the ground. Both girls realised what was coming next, however neither were fast enough to react. The next second they were both flying through the air, fire and debris all around them, their screams masked by the sound of the explosion.

They hit the ground a good five feet away from where they had started. Searing pain coursed through their bodies. Arianna struggled to open her eyes through the pain and the pounding in her head. She sat up and winced at the pain that flowed through her back. She reached behind her and when she pulled her hand back she saw the sticky crimson that covered her fingers. She then spotted Rowan lying about a foot away. She went to get on her knees when her upper thigh protested the action causing her pain. She looked down and gasped when she saw her bare leg had a deep gash that started at the top of her leg and stopped just below the knee. She looked away trying to keep the tears of pain out of her eyes and began dragging herself across the rubble, doing her best to ignore the burst of pain as dirt and rocks scraped by her injured leg, whimpering feebly.

She could see Rowan grasping her side in pain, her eyes shut tight and blood on her temple. "Rowan!" She exclaimed as quietly as possible, vaguely aware that the death eaters where on the other side of what was left of the burning tents. Or maybe they had left, she didn't know.

"Arianna?" She called back a quiver in her voice. Arianna finally reached her cousin and immediately grabbed her hand. "You're bleeding Ar," Rowan stated as she lifted her hand to Arianna's jaw. "You're jaw looks really bruised, your leg is bleeding and you have cuts all over your legs and arms." Rowan said concern in her voice as she struggled to raise her head.

"You don't look to hot either Row." Arianna said with a weak smile.

"What's the verdict doc?" Rowan asked her cousin, her eyes watering and she was struggling to smile.

Arianna chocked out a tearful laugh. "I think you'll live, it doesn't look too bad. You have a scrape on your temple, a pretty deep slice on your arm, lots of scrapes and bruises," She paused, her eyes tightening on Rowan's side. "And, um… you have a piece of the tent pool in your side."

Rowan eyes shot open and she began reaching for the piece of wood that was as thick as a broom handle lodged just below he rib cage. Arianna shot forward and pushed her hands away from the object. The sight of the thick pole imbedded in her cousin's side made Arianna's vision swim and swirl for a second, before she remembered why it was important Rowan not touch the pole.

"Leave it Rowan, you'll bleed out if you remove it."

Rowan was crying hysterically now. Arianna just held her hands away from her side until she stopped struggling and her eyes began to drift closed. Arianna knew she shouldn't be letting Rowan fall asleep, but it was becoming harder and harder for her to focus. She slipped backwards then, letting her head thump onto the ground. She struggled to keep her eyes open but her battle was lost quickly and she fell into the painless darkness of unconsciousness.

Rowan wasn't quite so lucky. She was drifting in between the anaesthetic of blissful unawareness, and the biting pain of reality. She barely noted the light from the fires dying, the screams stop completely and then a cloud took the shape of a snake slithering out of a skull, before the screams started up again. The next time she drifted back, she was only somewhat aware of what was going on.

"They're here, Over here, hurry!" She then saw an orange blur hovering over her face, calling what she assumed was her name. Then there was a feeling of weightlessness and she drifted back into the dark.

The next time she was fully conscious, Rowan opened her eyes to see a wooden ceiling, and she could smell cooking. She lay there, slowly regaining more and more of her senses, hearing the clanging of pots and pans to her left, and feeling a scratchy yarn quilt covering her body.

"Arianna?" She croaked, her voice stiff with disuse. She tried to turn her head and look around, but was stopped by a firm, but gentle hand on her face.

"Don't move, dear. You're still hurt," Came the reassuring voice of Mrs. Weasley, her kind voice and the sight of her homely face making Rowan instantly relax from the panicked frenzy she had been working herself into since regaining consciousness.

"Where's Arianna?" She asked, her voice a little less throaty. Mrs. Weasley smiled, patting Rowan's hand.

"Arianna is outside with the rest. She woke up last night," It was then that Rowan noticed the sun pouring through what must have been the window of the living room where she was laying on the couch. _How__long__has__it__been?_

"She's okay?" She wanted to know, attempting to sit up again. Mrs. Weasley nodded, and gently pushed Rowan back onto the couch.

"She's fine," She said impatiently. "She didn't have a tree trunk in her side, did she? Let's get you sorted out."

After a thorough inspection by Mrs. Weasley, Rowan was allowed to get up, and get into her own clothes. When they had been brought back from the Cup, Mrs. Weasley had, after magically healing both unconscious girls as best she could, got them into large housecoats instead of their torn and bloody pajamas and borrowed jackets. Arianna, since her injuries had been less severe, had woken up a day later, Rowan's body taking longer due to the extent of her wounds. Rowan felt much better, more human, in her own jeans and Zonko's t-shirt, and headed outside after being made to eat some toast.

Outside, the twins seemed to be having a mock sword fight with wooden spatulas, much to the amusement of everyone else, who were sitting on the grass of the Weasley's front lawn. Rowan was happy to see her friends in such good shape, worried that they might have been hurt like she and Arianna were.

"Avast, ye blackguard! The treasure of-" George's deceleration was cut off when Fred jabbed him in the stomach with his wooden weapon.

"Ye lily-livered coward! The booty is mine!" He proclaimed, knocking his twin to the ground and holding the spatula to his throat.

"Rowan!" Hermione yelled, the first one to notice her. Arianna, whose back had been to the door, jumped up, spun around, and rushed to sweep her cousin up in a huge hug.

"Watch the side, watch the side!" Rowan ordered, gasping through the pain Arianna had caused her side. Mrs. Weasley had warned her that the spells she used on them had healed the worst of it, but that there was still some damage to both of them, and they would have to be fairly careful for a while. Arianna loosened her grip, her tank top strap sliding down her shoulder.

"Sorry," She said sheepishly, taking a step back so Harry, Hermione and Ron could swarm the brunette teen as well. Everyone was wearing shorts and either short sleeve t-shirts or tank tops, the still relatively warm August air making much more unbearable.

"Are you feeling alright?" Hermione asked concernedly, instantly starting to go over various potions she could make her for the pain once they got back to school. Rowan quickly told her it was fine, and she carefully sat down with the rest of them.

"Arianna, your leg? And you've still got scrapes and bruises!" Rowan noticed, seeing the marks on her cousin's face, and the ugly bright red line running down her leg. Arianna nodded, running her hand along the mark on her leg, feeling the way it bulged out from the rest of her skin.

"It'll go away eventually. And you don't look one hundred percent yourself, Ms. Scrapesalot!"

"You had a blooming tree in your side!" Ron exclaimed before Rowan could retort to her cousins remark. "It's a wonder you're alive."

Fred and George snorted. "She's tougher than she looks, our Rowan is," Fred informed his little brother, cuffing him upside the head.

"So whose jackets were those anyway?" Ginny asked, looking interested. "We were talking about it, and we know they're not yours. We wanted to ask both of you, so we waited 'til you were awake, too."

Arianna and Rowan exchanged glances.

"Well, we were running, and we ended up in the forest," Rowan started, a little unsure at first, but getting more confident as she went.

"Yeah, and Draco and Blaise were there," Arianna continued.

"We saw them," Harry informed them, a dark look in his eyes. "He all but told us that his dad was with those death-eaters."

Something stopped the cousins from telling their friends about the warning the two Slytherins had given them, and instead continued with their story.

"Really? Well, they were semi-nice to us, which was confusing, and then they gave us their jackets because we were just in our PJs." Rowan said, her eyebrows knitting in confusion.

"It was strange, but we probably would have been burned much worse without those jackets," Arianna grumbled consent to the fact that could very well have been seriously burned without the coats. They owed the Slytherins big time.

"Well, mum fixed them," George told them.

"Wish we'd known they belonged to those two, we'd have made her leave them torn." Said Fred, getting nods from Ron and Harry.

After sitting outside and talking about the game, finishing their story, and hearing what had happened to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, they went inside to get the things their mothers had dropped off from Diagon Alley. They went through their new things with Ginny and Hermione, and were happy with the dresses their parents had picked for them. They put their new things and Blaise and Draco's repaired jackets in their trunks, and headed downstairs for supper.

They stayed at the Weasley's for another week, during which their mothers came to say hi, and make sure their daughters were all right.

"We're fine mom!" Rowan said for the third time, rolling her eyes at Arianna as Marissa fussed over both of them. They finally convinced their concerned mothers they were alright, and they Disapparated with two loud cracks after having dinner with them. The rest of the week passed quickly, Pigwidgeon annoying everyone, lots of Quidditch in the field, and staying up late to talk.

The cousins were happy to get to King's Cross, as it meant they could get out of the cramped muggle taxis, and them together with Ron were the first three to make it through the barrier, because of their owls. Hedwig was delivering a letter to Sirius, Harry had told them, so she wasn't there. Everyone made it through onto the loud platform, and Harry, Hermione, Ron, Rowan, and Arianna hauled their trunks into a compartment before going to give Mrs. Weasley, Charlie, and Bill hugs goodbye.

"I might be seeing you all sooner than you think," Charlie said, before proceeding to zip his lips, not telling them anything more.

They watched from the window of their compartment as the platform zoomed away, and Mrs. Weasley, Charlie, and Bill Disapparated before the Hogwarts Express had rounded the first curve.

"Bagman wanted to tell us what's happening at Hogwarts," Ron grumbled, throwing his ridiculous dress robes over Pigwidgeon's cage to muffle his hooting. "At the World Cup, remember? But my own mother won't say. Wonder what-" Hermione cut off Ron's rant with a 'shh,' pressing her finger to her lips and pointing to the compartment next to them. Rowan and Arianna started as the voice of a troublesome blond Slytherin hit their ears.

"… Father actually considered sending me to Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, you know. He knows the Headmaster, you see," Rowan, Arianna, and Harry exchanged glances at Draco's words. Rowan and Arianna knew that the Headmaster of Durmstrang was Karakaroff, an 'ex-Death Eater,' if there was such a thing. "Well, you know his opinion of Dumbledore – the man's such a Mudblood-lover – and Durmstrang doesn't admit that sort of rif-raf," Everyone could picture the haughty sneer Draco wore when he said that. "But Mother didn't like the idea of me going to school so far away, Father says Durmstrang takes a far more sensible line that Hogwarts about the Dark Arts. Durmstrang students actually learn them, not just the defence rubbish we do…"

Hermione crept silently to the door, and slid it shut so they couldn't hear Draco's slippery voice. Rowan was troubled. Draco _wanted_ to learn Dark magic?

"So he thinks Durmstrang would have suited him, does he? I wish he had gone, then we wouldn't have had to put up with him," Hermione said angrily, sitting back down beside Arianna. Arianna smirked a bit.

"We'd have been bored out of our minds," she said, rolling her eyes.

The discussion turned to where and what Durmstrang was, Arianna and Rowan adding what little they knew to Hermione's information. By the time they had finished talking about how likely it would be that Draco would be pushed of a glacier if he did go to Durmstrang, the skies were raining messily over the Hogwarts Express, making the windows fog up exponentially. Harry and Rowan bought a bunch of Cauldron Cakes and Liquorice Wands for them to share when the trolley came around.

Dean, Seamus, and Neville came to visit for a while, the boys and Rowan talking about the World Cup game and other Quidditch-related things. Eventually, Hermione and Arianna rolled their eyes, and started helping each other with the summoning charms they would be learning. Sorrel and Xena were sleeping peacefully in their cages, while Pig continued to bounce around in his cage excitedly.

Suddenly, when only the cousins and their three friends plus Neville were in the compartment still, Draco and Blaise appeared in the doorway, flanked by the hulking figures of Crabbe and Goyle, their perpetual body guards. Draco and Blaise looked around the compartment, and seemed to relax when they saw Arianna and Rowan.

"Don't remember asking you to join us, Malfoy," Harry said, a definite edge of cold to his tone. The Slytherins, who had been examining Arianna and Rowan, turned back to Harry, the familiar sneers the Gryffindors were used to seeing falling back into place.

Completely ignoring Harry, Draco instead turned his attention to Ron and the robes covering Pigwidgeon's cage. "Weasley… what is that?" The girls, who were extremely confused by the way the two boys had been looking at them before, glanced at the cage and saw one lacy sleeve dangling from the cage, swaying with the motion of the train. Ron tried to stuff the mouldy thing out of sight, but Blaise darted forward and snatched the robes from Ron's grip.

"Look at this!" He crowed, holding them up for his friends who were snickering loudly. Blaise turned his eyes to Ron, chuckling. "Weasley, You weren't thinking of wearing these, were you? I mean, they were very fashionable… in about 1890…"

"Eat dung Zabini!" Ron snarled, snatching his robes back, both Blaise and Draco howling with derisive laughter while Crabbe and Goyle guffawed in the background, clearly just following the other two's lead.

"So… going to enter, Weasley? Going to try and bring a bit of glory to the family name? There's money involved as well, you know… you'd be able to afford some decent robes if you won…" Malfoy said, his laughter dying down.

"What are you talking about?" Ron snapped.

"Are you going enter?" Draco repeated. "I suppose you will, Potter? You never miss a chance to show off, do you?"

"Explain what you're on about or go away, Malfoy," Said Hermione testily over the top of _The__Standard__Book__of__Spells__Grade__4_.

A gleeful smile spread across Blaise and Draco's faces. "Don't tell me you don't know?" The blond asked delightedly. "You've got a father and brother at the Ministry and you don't even know? My god, My Father told me about it ages ago… heard it from Cornileus Fudge. But then, Father's always associated with the top people at the Ministry… maybe your father's too junior to know about it, Weasley… yes… they probably don't talk about important stuff in front of him…" Arianna and Rowan were mad, their wands had somehow migrated from the waistband of their jeans to their hands. How dare they come into their compartment in insult their friend? They had absolutely no right.

"Get. Out," Rowan hissed at them, murder in her eyes.

The two looked taken aback, before their usual lofty expressions fell back into place. "Silver, Night, can we have a word with you in the hall?" Blaise asked them, his body language the same as it had been with Ron, but he had something different in his eyes.

"They don't have to go anywhere with you," Harry growled, suddenly protective of his friends, who he thought of as sisters. Draco cocked an eyebrow at the dark-haired boy.

"They have mouths, don't they? Vocal cords?" he sneered. Harry was about to shoot either a retort or a jinx at Draco, when Rowan and Arianna held up placating hands.

"It's fine, Harry. We can take care of ourselves. Won't be a moment," Arianna said, tilting her chin up in defiance as she and her cousin turned to the Slytherins. They all but slammed the compartment door behind them as they left. They followed Draco and Blaise to their compartment, Crabbe and Goyle being shooed away. The girls leaned their shoulders against the door frame, the boys standing a bit farther in.

"What?" Rowan asked, still angry about the way they had treated her friends.

"Are you two okay? What happened at the Cup?" Draco asked, his sneer seeming only half-hearted.

"Why do you care?" Arianna grumbled, putting her hands on her hips. The boys seemed to be noting the various small scrapes and bruises that still adorned the visible parts of the girls' bodies. Rowan still had a shallow, but large scrape on her shoulder, along with a couple bruises on her hands and arms. They couldn't see the large bruise and pink scar where the tent pole had pierced her side, as it was covered by her tank top. Arianna still had an ugly yellow/green bruise along her jaw, and her cheeks were decorated with smallish cuts. She had been hit in the back with a large piece of debris, and the bruise from that was still there, but, like with Rowan, there was no way for them to see that. The bruise along with the scar still visible on her leg were slow to heal, and would probably take at least the rest of the month to heal, along with Rowan's more serious injuries.

"You left us with those kids and their mom, then you ran off after that kid!" Blaise exclaimed before lowering his voice again. "We didn't know what happened to you. We thought you might've been dead."

"Those kids were really loud. We were stuck with them until some wizard from St. Mungos came and Apparated away with them," Draco said, his sneer back in full force.

"Glad you were so worried about us," Rowan smirked. "I had a tent pole imbedded in my side, and Arianna's leg looked like someone had put it in a meat grinder. We're fine now. Can we get back to our friends?" Not waiting for an answer, both girls spun on their heels and walked away from the boys, whose faces' had transformed into masks of shock, and went back to their compartment.

"What did they want?" Harry, and Ron asked at the same time, both glowering.

"They… wanted their jackets back," Arianna said, not wanting to tell them that the Slytherins had been concerned for them. She wasn't sure why, but it didn't seem like a good idea. Rowan nodded, thinking the same thing as her cousin, and they dug through their trunks to find the jackets.

"Be right back," Rowan said, smiling at Harry and Ron, who both still seemed suspicious. Hermione sighed heavily, shaking her head, and turning back to her book.

"Here," Rowan snapped, tossing Draco his jacket. Both boys were sitting at their seats now, Crabbe and Goyle still off wherever they had gone. Arianna tossed Blaise his hoodie, the mass of dark fabric landing on the seat next to him.

"Um… thanks. We would've been really badly burned if it wasn't for them," Arianna said, doing her best to smooth over their earlier argument. She felt bad, because while they had never exactly been friends, they defiantly weren't enemies either. Before either boy could say anything, they headed back to their seats, flopping down by Hermione. Arianna gently ran a finger across Sorrel's soft belly feathers, causing the half asleep owl to lean into her hand before readjusting herself and falling back asleep.

Ron was in a foul mood because of what Draco had said about his dad, and fumed until they arrived at Hogsmeade station. Thunder rumbled, and Hermione put Crookshanks under her cloak to keep him dry Ron leaving his robes over Pigwidgeon's cage. Rowan and Arianna covered their owls' cages with random black robes they had pulled from their trunks, knowing how much they hated the wet. It felt like some very sadistic person was repeatedly pouring buckets of ice water down on their heads.

"Hi Hagrid!" Harry yelled, noticing the bulky man first.

"All righ', Harry? See yeh at the feast if we don' drown!" Hagrid bellowed back, waving at them through the rain. The large man always took the First Years across the Black Lake in tiny little enchanted rowboats. The mere thought of having to do such a thing in the pounding rain made Rowan shudder and draw her school robes tighter around her.

"Oooh, I wouldn't fancy crossing the lake in this weather," Said Hermione fervently as they shuffled with the crowd along the platform, getting nods from everyone. Ron, Rowan, and Arianna put their caged owls with the many other hooting or asleep birds on the way, promising to come visit them in the Owlery soon.

They gratefully clambered into one of the hundred or so horseless carriages, and shut the door behind them, closing out the torrents of rain. A few moments later, the long procession of carriages started to make its way along the path to Hogwarts.

"I don't think I've ever been this wet. Never ever," Arianna coughed, wringing out her hair.

"No kidding," Rowan agreed, enjoying it a bit more than her cousin. She always liked water, due to the fact that she and her father were water elementals, and she supposed it was a part of her.

They looked out the window, watching Hogwarts draw nearer through the thick curtain of rain. When they got out of the carriage, they ran as fast as they could and didn't stop until they were inside the Entrance Hall, the grand marble staircase looking alone and empty as all the students made their way into the Great Hall for the welcoming feast.

"Blimey," Ron said, shaking his mane of red hair, sending water flying everywhere. "If that keeps up, the lake's going to overflow. I'm soak- ARGH!"

Out of nowhere, a large red water balloon careened into Ron's head, soaking him even more, if that was possible, than before. The redhead staggered into Harry, the next water bomb narrowly missing Arianna and Rowan, managing to fill their sneakers up with water. They squealed and jumped back a second too late, looking up to see Peeves the poltergeist cackling madly.

"PEEVES!" Professor McGonagall shouted, coming skidding out of the Great Hall. "Peeves, come down here at ONCE!" The Professor slipped and slid across the slick marble floor, and grabbed Rowan around the neck to stop herself from falling. "Ouch – sorry, Night,"

"That's all right, Professor," Rowan gasped, massaging her throat. "I should be able to breath normally in a couple seconds."

"Peeves, get down here NOW!" Professor McGonagall barked, straightening here pointed hat and glaring through her spectacles.

"Not doing nothing!" the poltergeist cackled, throwing another water balloon at a group of fifth-year girls. "Already wet, aren't they? Little squirts! Wheeeeeeeeee!" and with that, he threw another water bomb at a group of second-years.

Professor McGonagall threatened to call Dumbledore, which Peeves responded to by chucking the rest of his water balloons into the air and floating away upstairs at high speed, cackling madly.

"Well, move along, then!" Professor McGonagall snapped. "Into the Great Hall, come on!"

Arianna, Rowan, Harry, Ron, and Hermione slipped and slid across the floor towards the Hall, Ron muttering darkly as he pushed his wet hair out of his eyes. The Great Hall looked fantastic, decorated as it was for the start-of-term feast. The golden plates, platters, and goblets reflecting the lights from the myriad of candles hovering over the tables. The ceiling, Arianna noted, was darker than she had ever seen it, full of swirling black clouds, broken occasionally by tongues of lightning.

As they walked past the Slytherin table, both Arianna and Rowan made a show of looking around the Hall, avoiding the gazes they could feel on their backs from the direction of two particularly confusing Slytherins. Most of the tables were full, including the fifth table holding the teachers. All the familiar faces were there, minus Professor Lupin, of course. Lupin had been almost everyone's favourite teacher, and no one had been sadder to see him go than Harry or Rowan. Both students were frustrated by the lack of good Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers that had taught at Hogwarts, and seeing the one great teacher they knew go had been sad.

They found a place to sit next to Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, his head wobbling slightly as he turned to beam at them.

"Good evening," He greeted them.

"Says who?" Rowan and Arianna said as one, dumping their runners full of water out on the floor.

"Hope they hurry up with the Sorting, I'm starving," Harry said, doing his best to wring out his robes. Ron nodded in agreement, licking his lips with anticipation of the feast to come.

Harry seemed somewhat excited for the sorting, and he kept glancing up towards the front of the room for any sign of the ragged Sorting Hat. The cousins realized that he had missed all of the Sorting Ceremonies since his own, due to various things beyond any of their control.

Colin Creevey got Harry's attention, and the two were talking about Colin's little brother, while Hermione had turned to Pavarti and the two were talking animatedly about their summers. Ron's attention had been taken by the twins, who had given some poor second-year a Ton-Tongue toffee, leaving Rowan and Arianna to smile and say hi to the various friends sitting around them. Arianna couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her and her cousin, but she refused to even glance at the Slytherin table. The prickly feeling on the back of her neck stopped instantly, however, when the door to the Great Hall opened, causing instant silence to fall, and Professor McGonagall led a line of drenched first-years up the middle of the tables.

The Professor placed the three-legged stool and the familiar Sorting Hat up just in front of the Head Table. The hat was still for a moment, before the tear just at the brim opened wide, and the hat broke into song.

The Hat told the story about how he was created, and which virtues were prized by each house. He threw in a similar line to the one they had heard in first year about how he just had to be put on their heads to know where they belonged, and the first-years visibly relaxed. One of them, an extraordinarily small boy, soaked to the bone and wearing Hagrid's terrible moleskin coat was given a huge double thumbs up from Colin. He must be Colin's younger brother Rowan thought, noting their similar features.

The hall burst into applause and Harry's brow creased in a frown as he clapped along with everyone else. "That's not the song it sang when it sorted us."

"Sings a different one every year, it's got to be a pretty boring life, hasn't it," Ron paused to shrug his shoulders. "Being a hat? I suppose it spends all year making up the next one."

Just then McGonagall began calling out names and the shaking first years each took their turn stumbling up to the rickety wooden stool and placing the frail hat upon their heads. After the procession all of the house tables were full to the brink. Colin's little brother had joined the Gryffindor table and was looking at Colin, a relieved smile spread wide across his face.


	5. A New Professor

**A/N: Soooorrrryyyyy for the wait. We were going to write over Christmas break, but one of us was at their cabin, and the other was... otherwise occupied.**

**Anyway, hopeyou like this chapter! And also had a great holidays :D Comments make us write faster. we're not even trying to be subtle, if you didn't pick up on that. Reviewers get cybercookies! 3**

"About time," said Ron, grabbing his knife and fork while looking at his plate expectantly. Rowan drew his attention to the front of the room, where Dumbledore had stood up.

"I have only two words to say to you," He said in his deep voice, the words echoing impressively. "Tuck in."

"Here here!" Harry and Ron said loudly as the magical dishes filled with food. Arianna and Rowan immediately began loading their plates with various foods.

"Aaah, 'at's be'er," Ron said through a mouthful of mashed potatoes. Hermione shot him a withering glare.

"Boys," she muttered, so only Arianna and Rowan heard.

"You're lucky there's a feast at all tonight, you know. There was trouble in the kitchens earlier," Nearly-Headless Nick informed them, looking wistfully at the delicious food.

"Why? Wha' 'appened?" Harry asked through a chunk of steak.

"Peeves, of course," Nick said, shaking his head so it wobbled precariously in its ruff. "The usual argument," He informed them, pulling the ruff more securely around his neck. "You know. He wanted to attened the feast – well, it's quite out of the question, you know what he's like, utterly uncivalised, can't see a plate of food without throwing it. We held a ghosts' council – the Fat Friar was all for giving him the chance – but most wisely, in my opinion, the Bloodly Baron put his foot down."

Arianna and Rowan shuddered. The Bloody Baron was the Slytherin house ghost, and while no more solid than any other ghost at the school (not very), he was the most terrifying. Last year, he had terrorised the two cousins when they were out of bed after hours, snarling cuss words at them until they almost got caught by Mrs. Norris and Filtch.

"Yeah, we thought Peeves seemed hacked off about something," said Ron darkly. "So what did he do in the kitchens?"

"Oh the usual," Nick shrugged. "Reeked havock and mayhem. Pots and pans everywhere. Place swimming in soup. Terrified the house elves out of their wits-"

Hermione clanged her goblet of pumpkin juice, spilling the orange liquid over the table cloth, but ignored it.

"There are house elves here? Here at Hogwarts?" She asked Nearly-Headless Nick, looking horrorstruck.

"Certainly," The ghost said, looking surprised at her reaction. "The largest number in any dwelling in Britain, I believe. Over a houndred."

"Well I've never seen one," Said Hermione. Arianna and Rowan glanced at each other, sensing Hermione latching onto a cause.

"Well they hardly ever leave the kitchen by day, do they?" Said Nick, straightening his ruff. "They come out at night to do a bit of cleaning… see to the fires and so on… I mean, you're not supposed to see them, are you? That's the mark of a good house elf, isn't it, that you don't know it's there?"

Hermione looked dumbfounded. "But they get paid? They get holidays, don't they? And – and sick leave, and pensions and everything?"

Nick chortled so much that his head fell off, dangling precariously from the inch or so of skin remaining on attaching his skull to the rest of his body. "Sick leave and pensions?" He said, pushing his head back into his ruff. "House elves don't want sick leaves and pensions."

Hermione looked at her only slightly touched plate of food, and pushed it away from her.

"Oh, c'mon Er-my-kne," said Ron, spraying Harry with food. "Oops – sorry, 'Arry-" He swallowed. "You won't get them sick leave by starving yourself."

"Slave labour," Hermione muttered, breathing hard through her nose. "That's what made this dinner. Slave labour."

"Hermione," Arianna said. "Don't you think you're being a bit… extreme? They love helping out. My mom and aunty Marisa were telling Rowan and I about their house elves. They weren't taken care of the best, but they were lucky by house-elf standards. They were perfectly happy."

"I'm sure Hogwarts' House elves are taken care of better than the Night and Silver family elves," Rowan said after swallowing her mouthful of potatoes. "'sides, they make good food!"

"Slave labour," Hermione muttered again, and refused to touch her plate the rest of the night.

Rain continued pattering heavily against the tall windows, thunder shaking the glass, and the lightning illuminated the shining gold plates as the main course was replaced with many deserts.

Ron tried to tempt Hermione into eating a desert or two, but the look she gave him where so withering he gave up.

When desert was over, the plates shining brighter than ever, Professor Dumbledore stood up, an almost instant silence falling over the room of full kids. The howling wind, and pounding rain was the only noise that could be heard besides ones own breathing.

"So!" Said Dumbledore, smiling at everyone. "Now that we are all fed and watered-"

"Humph," Said Hermione.

"I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices. Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yoyos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs."

"Darn, there go my plans for tonight," Rowan smirked, nudging her cousin.

"The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anyone would like to check it." The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched. "As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest grounds are out of bounds to students."

"Still?" Arianna grinned at Harry. "I thought they'd know better by now then to try and prevent it."

"As is the village of Hogsmede to all those below third year. It is also my painful duty to inform you that the inter-house Quidditch cup will not take place this year."

"What?" Harry and Rowan gasped in unison. All the members of the Gryffindor team were gaping at Dumbledore, to aghast to speak.

"This is due to an event starting in October," Dumbledore continued. "And continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy –but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts-" At that moment, there was a great clap of thunder, and the doors of the great hall burst open. A man stood in the doorway, leaning on a tall stick, shrouded ominously in a traveling cloak. Every head in the hall turned towards the new arrival, as his face was illuminated by a flash of lightning.

He lowered his hood, shook out a mane of dark, grizzled looking hair, and started towards the teachers table. A dull clank echoed through the space every other step he took. He reached the end of the top table, turned right, and limped towards Dumbledore. Something in the way he walked reminded the cousins of something. Not that they had met the man before, they would have remembered that, but it seemed like he was part of a story their mothers had told them.

Another flash of lightning crossed the ceiling, and Hermione gasped. The light had lit up the man's craggy face, and it was definitely one you wouldn't forget. It looked like someone had carved his face, without much skill, from weathered driftwood. A large chunk of his nose was missing, and it looked like someone had taken to his face with a hunting knife, slicing gashes every which way, and the wounds had sealed into scars. His eyes were the most frightening part of him, though. One was small, dark and beady, and the other one was large, round as a coin, and a bright electric blue. The blue one seemed to always be in motion, unblinking, completely independently of the other one. Then, it rolled all the way back into the man's skull, only white showing. It was one of the creepiest things Arianna and Rowan had ever seen. The stranger extended his hand, just as marred as his face, and muttered unintelligible words to the bearded man. The scarred man shook his head to a question Dumbledore had evidently asked, and muttered a reply back, getting a nod in return. Dumbledore gestured the man to a seat, which the man took, pulling a plate of sausages towards him in the process. He sniffed a piece of the sausage before pulling out a knife of his own and beginning to eat.

His normal eye was fixed on the food, but the blue one was moving around in his skull like a skittish wild animal, taking in the hall and the students.

"May I introduce our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, professor Moody," Dumbledore said brightly. It was the normal thing to welcome new teachers with a round of applause, but no one did, except Hagrid and Dumbledore. The sound echoed dully in the silence, and both quickly stopped. Everyone else seemed too fascinated with Moody's appearance to react.

Harry muttered something to Ron that the girls couldn't hear, to which the redhead replied. "Must be."

"What happened to him? What happened to his face?" Hermione asked, leaning in to the boys.

"Dunno," Ron muttered, staring at Moody in fascination.

"I think his name is Alistor." Rowan whispered to her friends as the grizzled man took a long draught from a hip flask.

"Our moms told us about him. He's an ex-Auror, a living legend," Arianna supplied.

The group noted that when he had lifted his arm to drink from his flask, his traveling cloak lifted a few inches from the ground, revealing a wooden foot ending in a clawed leg.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, picking up his train of thought. "We are to have the honour of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event which has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

"YOU'RE JOKING!" said Fred Weasley loudly, breaking the tension that had been layering on since Moody entered the room. Nearly everyone laughed, including professor Dumbledore.

"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley. Thought, now you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun, who all go into a bar-" Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly. "Er – but maybe this is not the time… no…" Said Dumbledore. "Where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament… Well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely. The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago, a friendly competition between the three largest schools of wizardry – Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took in in turns to host the tournament every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities – until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."

"Death toll?" Hermione whispered. Arianna agreed with her concern, but most everyone else in the room was excited.

"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament," Dumbledore continued. "None of which have been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Co-operation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt.

"We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that, this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger. The head of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selections of the three champions will take place at Hallowe'en. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand galleons personal prize money."

"I'm going for it," Fred hissed, his face shining with excitement. It wasn't just him. Almost every student in the room seemed extremely excited by the prospect of glory, not to mention all that money. Dumbledore cleared his throat, and the whispering around the hall quieted.

"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard cup to Hogwarts," he said. "The heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age – that is to say, seventeen years or older – will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This" – Dumbledore had to raise his voice to be heard over the angry mutters of the students, including the twins, who looked like they were ready to kill someone. "Is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion."

Dumbledore's eyes seemed to twinkle as he caught sight of Fred and George, both looking mutinous. "That is so freaking dumb," Rowan muttered.

"Well, people have died, you know," Hermione said, looking quite concerned.

"Well, then whoever doesn't want to get hurt doesn't have to put their name forward. Let the people who do want to give it a go," The brunette grumbled darkly.

"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October, and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected."

Arianna yawned widly, her mind wandering to the soft bed sheets waiting for her upstairs.

"And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!"

The bearded man sat down, and began talking to Moody. The sound of the benches scraping back and excited voices almost drowned out the driving rain.

"They can't do that!" George said, still standing at the table, looking at Dumbledore in consternation. "We're seventeen in April, why can't we have a shot?"

"We'd rather have you alive this year, thanks," Rowan said, rolling her eyes.

"They're not stopping me entering," Fred said stubbornly, completely ignoring Rowan's comment. "The champions'll get to do all sorts of stuff you'd never be allowed to do normally. And a thousand galleons prize money!"

"Yeah, yeah, a thousand galleons," Ron said dreamily, looking into empty space.

"Come on," Hermione said.

"Yeah, we'll be the only ones left if we don't move," Arianna said pushing the twin's shoulders as Hermione grabbed Ron by the sleeve.

All the way to the Entrance hall they twins wouldn't stop debating the ways Dumbledore would stop underage wizards from entering the tournament.

"Who's the impartial judge who's going to decide who the champions are?" Harry asked.

"Dunno, but it's them we have to fool. I reckon a couple drops of aging potion might do it, George…" Fred mused.

"Dumbledore knows you're not of age, though," said Ron.

"Yeah, but he's not the one who decides who the champion is, is he?" Fred replied. "Sounds to me like once this judge knows who he wants to enter, he'll choose the best from each school and never mind how old they are. Dumbledore's trying to stop us giving our names."

"Dumbledore's trying to keep you alive," Arianna said, genuinely concerned.

"Personally, I'd prefer you back at school with both your faces intact, thank you very much," Rowan added. She stopped suddenly and turned to Arianna "We promised we'd meet Luna at the library after dinner. See you guys later,"

As the cousins left, they heard Hermione through the tapestry shortcut the others were taking.

"People have died though…"

"You think the twins'll actually try to get in to the tournament?" Arianna asked as the two made their way through the clearing hallways.

"I wouldn't doubt it, I mean, it is the twins we're talking about," Rowan said, almost knocking a first year in the head with her elbow as he walked past, a confused look in his eyes. "Sorry dude!"

"S'okay," He said, still looking dazed by the size of the castle. "Um… do you know where the… um… Hufflepuff common room is?" He asked, seeming scared by the size of the fourth years.

"Down by the kitchen," Arianna said, pointing towards the hallway where the first year needed to go. He thanked the cousins, and excitedly ran towards the kitchen.

"First years are adorable, if a little annoying," Rowan smirked, before she was yanked into an alcove, quickly followed by Arianna. Both girls yelped as their backs slammed into the stone wall, the pain in Rowan's side making her vision cloud with stars, and Arianna's back felt like it had been stabbed with a ten inch knife.

"Owowowow!" Both girls chanted, unable to move through the pain.

"Shut up! You want someone to hear you?" A familiar voice hissed in Rowan's ear. "What the heck's wrong?"

"Side!" Rowan roared.

"Back!" Arianna growled, as her assailant hissed in her ear as well.

Both the Slytherins let them go an apology seeming to be on their lips before being replaced by smirks instead.

"What the heck? You're horrible!" Rowan said, as she doubled over in pain, rubbing her side and attempting to keep the contents of her supper inside her stomach. Arianna just groaned, sinking to the ground, before standing up suddenly.

"I'mokay!" She said quickly, not daring to look weak in front of Blaise.

"What do you want, Draco?" Rowan asked, glaring at the blond, rising to her full height and dropping her hand from her side.

Both boys' smirks faltered a bit. "We wanted to know what the heck was up with you two on the train? We thought maybe you two had finally gone bonkers." Malfoy said, his smirk turning to a full on sneer.

"Let's list the reasons, shall we?" Rowan said.

"You barged into our compartment," Arianna started.

"Were total arses to our friends,"

"Yanked us out with no explanation,"

Draco and Blaise looked at each other warily, their expressions guarded.

"Were arses to Ron and Harry,"

"Potter was-" Draco was cut off.

"We're not done," Rowan warned, the promise of murder in her eyes.

"You wouldn't stop sneering at us,"

"And just now, you freaking grab us out of the hallway,"

"And shove us against a wall on our injured side and back, what's your problem?" Arianna hissed, not wanting to break the aura of secrecy over their alcove, as no one had noticed them thus far. Both girls had run out of air and things to say about the boys. The Slytherins kept looking at them, making sure they were done.

"Well, that was fun," Blaise said, his smirk wavering before falling back into place. "Nothing I like more than being reamed out by two Gryffindors …"

"So… what actually happened at the Cup?" Draco asked, the only signs of anxiety were his hands moving to his pockets.

Rowan regarded him through narrowed eyes, then gave up fighting him. "We thought we saw Harry, so we ran to get him, but it wasn't Harry."

"So I told him to head to the forest." Arianna explained, having sunk back down to the ground, and was looking up at Blaise, pain still shooting through her back. "Row wasn't moving, and I had to tug her along." Arianna looked to Rowan for her to continue and saw she had a glazed over look in her eyes. Slowly Rowan spoke.

"Then we heard footsteps," Rowan shivered, remembering the menacing sound of the steps. "And we hid behind a tent."

"We heard someone talking to someone named Greyback; he wanted to know if he could hunt mudbloods." Arianna and Rowan shivered at the thought. "The guy wouldn't let him, so he blew up a few tents instead," Arianna said, the rock wall behind her seemed to turn to hot tent fabric.

Draco and Blaise had exchanged a look at the mention of Greyback, but they quickly turned their full attention to the girls. Blaise had kneeled down to Arianna's level, and was leaning slightly away, looking awkward.

"When our tent exploded, we were thrown about five feet or so away, and that's when we got hurt," Rowan finished. Draco's hand went forward to Rowan's temple where the evidence of the explosion was still visible. He ran his finger down the length of the scrape, a sad look in his eyes. She leaned into his touch almost unconsciously and looked up into his eyes. He blinked suddenly and pulled away so fast Rowan thought her face had burned his skin.

Arianna and Blaise just watched the display with weird looks on their faces. There was an awkward pause, broken by Arianna.

"Why do you Slytherin's have to be so confusing all of the time? I mean sometimes it's as if you actually care what happens to us…" She trailed off, a sad note in her voice.

"But the rest of the time it's like you wouldn't care if we took a long walk off a short pier." Rowan continued for her cousin.

Draco and Blaise shared a look with the girls that could have been construed as guilt, but the girls were not entirely sure.

"It's not that we don't like you…" Draco started, struggling to find the words.

"It's just that being from different houses keeps us from ever considering you two as friends." Blaise said with a shrug. A smirk crossed his lips that the girls didn't find all to convincing.

Rowan growled at that. "So basically the colour we wear on our ties, decides whether or not we can be friends? That's absurd." She stepped forward and practically ripped the loose green and silver tie over Draco's head, followed by her own tie. "This should not define you!" She said shoving the fabric into Blaise's and Draco's faces angrily. Arianna got up quickly from her spot on the floor and helped back her cousin up.

"It should be a part of you… but not 'you'" Arianna said for emphasise as Rowan chucked Draco's tie back at him. Draco's cheeks had flushed pink and he was scrambling to re-fasten his tie, missing the top two buttons that had popped undone when Rowan had un gracefully removed his tie. In all honesty it looked as if he had just been snogging with someone in a broom closet, the way his cloths where dishevelled. This thought made Rowan's cheeks flare red, and even more so when she realized her eyes were locked on the uncovered muscular skin the undone buttons exposed.

"You don't understand, Night," Draco said with a sneer. "We don't have the choice of getting along with Gryffindors. If we want to stay on top of the Slytherin house, we need to keep you out of our social lives."

"Oh that's just rich," Arianna said, sarcasm leaking from every syllable. "Is it really so important to you two to have all the Slytherins running around under your thrones, doing your every bidding?"

Draco huffed in humor and Blaise chuckled. "As if you perfect little Gryffindors don't care about stature. You two, Grainger, Weasley, and the Golden Boy Potter have the whole school wrapped around your little fingers. And you think we're conceded?" Draco laughed at his friend's statement.

Rowan growled deeply, a strong urge to pull out her wand and hex the blond Slytherin arising in her. "We don't have the whole school wrapped around our fingers. We're just nice people who know how to show compassion, concern, gratitude, guilt and humanity. People respect us for who we are, not who our daddy's are." She spat the last sentence out at Draco in particular, however it was still directed to Blaise.

"How dare you?" Blaise spat as he reached for his wand. He never needed to though, because Draco had already grabbed Rowan's shoulders.

"Take it back!" He growled, his grip tightening on her. She tried to stop the hiss of pain as his harsh grasp jolted her side around, but she failed miserably.

At this Arianna ripped her wand out and pointed it at Draco's chest, which resulted in Blaise pointing his wand at Arianna.

"Malfoy stop!" Arianna ordered forcefully. The use of his last name sounded foreign coming from her. Under normal circumstances, she would never use a fellow student's last name like that, this time, because he was manhandling her cousin, she made an exception. Her request, however, was completely ignored. While she was distracted, Blaise took the chance and quickly ripped her wand from her hand and quickly pulled her back into his chest, holding her arms down by her side with his own arms. She struggled to be let go so she could assist her cousin.

Draco's eyes were getting frantic. He kept muttering that he was 'Not a daddy's boy' over and over again as his grip became tighter and tighter.

As the force of his grasp became too much Rowan closed her eyes and tried to keep them from watering. "Draco… please…" she whimpered, not knowing what else to say. The pain stopped abruptly and his hands left her shoulders in a second.

"I, um… I didn't mean…" He trailed off as she swayed forward and landed in his chest. Her side was throbbing uncontrollably and her eyes were watering as well. She felt dizzy and sick, and if Draco hadn't been standing there she would most likely be in a heap on the floor.

Draco was still muttering out apologies (none of which included the actual words 'I'm sorry') as he gently held her to his chest to keep her from falling over.

Rowan watched out of the corner of her eye as Blaise released Arianna who sat on the floor next to his feet, an exhausted look on her face.

"I'm sorry Draco. I shouldn't have said what I did." Rowan said as she pulled away for Draco's chest. "I just wanted you to understand my perspective. I took it too far when I brought your family in-" She was cut off when Draco put his hand over her mouth and pushed her into the farthest corner of the alcove, into the shadows.

Blaise did practically the same thing with Arianna at that moment. He gently pulled her still sitting form into the corner and crouched behind her, letting her head rest against his shoulder, and his arms reach around her chest in a protective shield.

That was when the girls heard it. The sound of clunking footsteps, alternating with the softer thud of a shoe walking down the stone hallway, the sound carrying towards their little hide out, making them all shrink into the shadows.

Rowan grabbed onto Draco's free hand in fear as the owner of the alternating footsteps walked by. The last thing they needed was to be found by the newest member of Hogawart's staff, after hours, and with boys. Her head was pressed into the crook of Draco's shoulder, and his other arm was wrapped protectively around her lower ribcage.

As the sound faded into oblivion the four fourth years let out the breaths they hadn't realized they'd been holding.

The four remained in silence for a couple minutes longer before Arianna broke the silence.

"So… um… can we go meet our friend at the library now?" Arianna asked, hauling herself to her feet. Blaise made a move to help her up, but stopped himself.

"Yeah, sorry for disturbing you," Draco said, only a hint of his usual sneer on his face. Rowan could have sworn she saw concern in his eyes, before he wiped it away and gestured for Blaise to follow him out of the arch and towards the Slytherin common room.

It was then that the cousins realized it was well past curfew.

"You think Luna will still be there?" Arianna asked Rowan as they headed towards the library, keeping their eyes and ears open for any sign of Filch or Mrs. Norris, not to mention any prefects wandering the halls.

"Dunno," Rowan said, sounding tired. The confrontation with the Slytherins had drained her of energy. "Should… should we go see madam Pomfrey tomorrow?" Rowan asked.

"Yeah," Arianna nodded. "I mean, I know Mrs. Weasley fixed us as best she could, but it shouldn't hurt this much."

When they arrived at the library, Luna wasn't there, and Madam Pince had already locked up the library.

"Crap! We'll have to find her tomorrow and tell her what happened," Rowan said, not happy to have missed her friend

"Yeah, no kidding," Arianna agreed.

They headed up to the Gryffindor common room, taking a couple shortcuts that Harry had told them about. They arrived in front of the Fat Lady that guarded the common room; she was snoring loudly.

"We have a problem," Arianna said, looking up at the lady, then glanced at Rowan, who wasn't paying any attention.

"Huh?"

"We don't know what the stinking password is."

Suddenly, the portrait opened, and Harry's grinning face was peering at them from under his mop of dark hair.

"What took you two so long?" He stage whispered as the cousins stepped through the portrait hole. "I was watching the map, and I saw you two coming back from the library."

The girls exchanged glances, then plastered grins to their faces.

"We, uh, were helping a couple of first years find their common rooms." Rowan said. Neither of the girls were sure why they were lying to their best friend about what Draco and Blaise had done, pulling them out of the corridor and all.

Harry gave them a funny look, and shrugged a bit, leaving it alone.

"Well, the password's Balderdash, just so you know," He walked to the stairs and looked over his shoulder, "Night Arianna, Night Rowan" He said, before heading up to the boys dormitories.

The comforting red and gold of the walls, and the overstuffed armchairs made them feel like they were home again. The fire was almost dead, the embers glowing cheerfully. The house elves would be coming out soon to clean the common room area, and stoke the fire.

"Night, Harry," The cousins chorused, heading to the dorm they shared with Pavarti, Lavander, and Hermione.

**A/N: So remember, Draco is not a Daddy's boy. Remember it on pain of... pain. CYBERCOOKIES FOR ALL REVIEWS! 3**


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